Having just had a chance to try for a first time my new set of blades yesterday, I could not help but notice that I found it difficult to achieve a nice clean and quiet entry in the water with them. Curious if others who have these Lendal blades have noticed that too and if yes, how did they overcome it?
Talking about Lendal Kinetic in the 650 cm size (formerly known as the Kinetic “S”) in the CC construction on a bent shaft in 220cm, which seemed about right for me though I’m sure I could do with a 215 just as well. In combination with the bent shaft I thought they felt pretty good and light enough with no flutter and a very solid no-splip feel in the water.
And let me say that they do really sing -
The ittle hole for the hex key near the blades makes a rather loud whistling sound when at a certain angle to the wind.
Anyway, to the question. My impression from owning a pair a couple of years back was confirmed: they are not nearly as smooth and quiet entering the water as I would like them to be and require attention to minimize dragging air in the water along with the blade during the catch. Perhaps improved technique can help but I don’t have nearly that much of a problem with what I consider a rather crude WW paddle and certainly don’t have an issue with the greenland or aleutian paddles I also use. They are smooth enough on the exit though.
Noticed that increased body rotation forward helps but still I could not quite achieve a perfectly smooth entry… Could it be the rather sharp/square cut to the blade edge? Or is ti just a characteristic of the paddle combined with my [imperfect] technique?
Thanks!
Haven’t tried a Lendal, but have noticed
marked blade entry differences with other kayak and canoe paddles.
For me it’s not just about a quiet entry or lack of splash. I have heard it said that the paddle blade should enter so that it doen’t carry air down which gets behind the blade during the stroke. I’ve heard this makes a difference in the extent to which a paddle grabs or slips.
It is very difficult for me to slip my Mitchell slalom canoe paddle in on each stroke without a bunch of air sneaking down with it. Yet with my similar Clinch River blades, and my own home-made paddle, it is fairly easy to drop the blade in cleanly.
Some refer to this air behind the paddle as “cavitation,” but it is not the same as the cavitation where a high performance propellor creates energy robbing gas around its blades.
So if you want quiet entry, it’s an issue. If you want no splash, it’s an issue. If you want no air going down with the blade, it may be an issue… I haven’t seen definitive discussion.
Smooth Paddle Entry
I’m not sure about Lendals, but with Werners, even though the blade is very thin, the square edge of the blade can cause quite a kerplunk and suck a significant amount of air down with the blade. Carefully filling or sanding the blade edges into a smooth rounded shape can make a BIG improvement in both noise and performance. I can’t believe they sell them that way.
I would
imagine that a very thin edge would be destroyed pretty quick with normal use and abuse contact on rocks and whatnot.
May be just rounding the edges…
My thought too - any sharp edges would chip easier. But that holds true for the sharp square edges that are on the paddle now too. Probably just a nice rouding of the sharp edges as opposed to sharpening/thinning would do the job.
That paddle I would probably not use where there would be much of a chance to hit anything underwater so it probably does not matter much to me from that prospective…