Chart I looked at seems off the wall to me. I looked at 6’ less than 23" it says 215 cm I wouldn’t be able to use that high angle in a million years.
PaddleDog52,
sure you would, high angle is more like a canoe stroke (almost vertical) to about 60 degree angle. So unless you Yak has a seat that boosts you off the water like some fishing kayaks you ought to be good.
Unless you really are a low angle paddler. 
1 Like
I’m using 205 in my 24" CD Solstice or 21" Extremes. I want to go 200 even 195. Going to order a shorter shaft for the Celtic adjustable I have. It goes 205-220 cm. I’ll get 195-210. Paddle does high and low. Great paddle faster than the 3 Ikelos paddles I have. Bigger blades. I’d never buy a non-adjustable paddle again.
I tried a 210, 220, 230, 240 and 250 cm. Everything under 240 is used to stake tomatoes. The charts are a starting point. You gotta use what you like. I bought my 10 and 13 year grand daughters 210 cm full carbon paddles, a Werner and an Aqua Bound. They won’t use them.one is in a 21" wide Tsunami SP and the older one is in a 140 Tsunami.
You don’t high angle as I remember. If I do high angle and don’t want to bury the blade 205 is more than enough. Longer you have hand to high and it gets tiring.
My sweet spot is 205-210. Everything else hurts my 73 year old body.
You like the big blades and High Angle which has the most power no doubt, but I like low angle. My hands rarely go above mid chest. The grip is typically about shoulder width at 23 to 25 inches (outside to outside of the grip). I spread the grip about 5 to 10 inches wider to open the chest to facilitate breathing after high exertion. The Kalliste blades at 99.7 sq in let me keep a cadence of 70 stoke a minute. It keeps the boat on glide.
Paddling technique often comes down to physical stature, leverage, distribution of fast and slow twitch muscles, and coordination. It works for me on the flat water. Surfing would probably be a whole different story.
My euro is a 205cm and I could probably go to a 200 without issue. The new GP I bought is a 215…I think I’m getting the hang of it.
I used a 212 to win 9 consecutive state championships. Changed boats a lot, but the paddle stayed the same.
Proper paddling technique is a science, it uses different muscle groups than you can with resistance work, so you only get better by doing it correctly.
CraigF, I’m curious about your height, length of races, and your speeds.
1 Like
And hulls
Thanks PaddleDog52. And the type of paddle, sq in of blades and cadence. Assume its high angle?
Sq CM
CM 2
Sure, its odd that I interchange between cm2 and sq in. My preference is sq in, but I rarely talk about paddle length in inches.
I did a race in early in June. I was first! But that was first in the registration line - didn’t do so well in the race.
I used my 225 cm. Nimbus quill (low angle), easy on my vulnerable shoulder.
I can see why you were first getting to the line, if you were carrying their light paddle. Nice looking paddles. As far as the race goes, not sure which model you have, but they look to be about 3.5 inches longer and 1.75 inches narrower than my Kalliste, 99.7 sq in (643.2 cm2), so my guess is its under 90 sq in( 580). At least sounds like you had fun.
I compared my Kalliste to a 220 cm paddle with 87 sq in blades (561.2 cm2). It didn’t work for me. If I recall, it was about 1/2 mph slower than the larger paddle.
The quill paddle looks a little like a Greenland.
Did this one get mentioned? QCC700?
http://www.qcckayaks.com/Q700X.aspx
It’s supposed to be fast and good for over 200 pounds. Ruddered.
Just know that this boat is happy and stable tilted a few degrees left or right when at rest. Some folks don’t like that.
QCC Kayaks have been out of production for a few years since they were bought out by Current Designs.
A good relatively fast boat. If I ever broke my Necky Arluk 1.9 and couldn’t find another one, that’s the used boat I might look for.
Very low decks