Steering with bent shaft paddle

Emily, with the boats you have,

– Last Updated: Feb-02-05 9:44 PM EST –

I recommend nothing more than a 5 degree bend. I say this especially if you use it in whitewater. Notwithstanding some of the interesting low brace advice you received in previous posts, in whitewater you are going to have to use the non-power face for quick low braces. Even if you learn to juggle to use the power face, you are just developing a bad habit which you will have to lose when you get into serious whitewater.

Nobody in whitewater slalom is using a bent shaft. Some are using crank shafts which increase reach, but the angle of the blade stays parallel to the angle of the shaft.

dougd does it like me, me thinks
i don’t know if I would even call it a j stroke. During the power stroke, when the blade is almost right next to me, I do a “wrist curl” (sharply bending both wrists in) while finishing my stroke. Other than the “wrist curl” I don’t do anything differently. The blade makes a “popping” noise when it exits the water. Like others here, though, I am only really good at it on one side.

bentshaft/soloing
I am a relatively new paddler - about a year’s experience, but I am out in the boat almost every weekend and some evenings in the summer. Mostly I have paddled solo starting with a compromise tandem/solo (Clipper Tripper S) and moving on to first a Wenonah Vagabond and now to a recently acquired used Wnnh Voyager. With the latter racey vessel came a Zavarel carbon bentshaft. Oh, my, what a cocktail stirrer! The combination of the long fast boat and this paddle has made me into a ‘hit and switch’ (or is it sit and switch?) speed demon. However, when I come to my senses and relax it works equally well single sided, corrective strokes. Someone, or maybe a couple of the respondents, describe the sort of slicing, variable pitch, end of stroke that I have evolved experimenting on my own. It works with the Grey Owl wooden bentshaft paddles too but even better with the thin blade of the carbon cleaver. I guess it is necessary to specify that I am talking flat water here, lakes and the Strait of Georgia in British Columbia.

Zav Paddling
I’ve been using the full bent shaft Zav paddle for years soloing my Prospector and love it! A couple notes:

  1. Get a shorter stick with the bent shaft.
  2. Play & practice. It will soon pay off in confidence.
  3. Keep the shaft vertical when paddling.
  4. Get the paddle bag. It’s way cool.

There are different ways to running IIIs
Downriver open boat racers have been running the Nantahala’s Lesser Wesser with bent shafts for decades. That’s not what I mean by running class 3 rapids. Running class I, II, and III means picking them apart. It means hitting the major eddies, and ferrying, and doing dynamic peel-outs, and side-surfing across the base of Lesser Wesser. This kind of action is not done in downriver hulls, and it is not done with 12 degree ZRE bentshaft paddles.



Class III can be quite technical. On the middle Tellico, for example, downriver Wabash hulls will be helpless, and bent shaft paddles will be treacherous. ZRE makes a real nice straight shaft slalom paddle for the middle Tellico and beyond.

Yes!
mjmcgrory,



Glad to hear someone knows what the hell I’m talking about. It’s hard to describe in words what works well on the water.



I to have a favorite side, my right side, although when I pole it is always on my left, go figure!?



For the record I use a Mitchell double bentshaft at 50" but I’m only 5’9" and shrinking as we speak!



Thanks for the input



dougd

shaft length
You mention being 5’9" and using a 50" bent shaft paddle. The Zav that came with my Voyager always felt a little long. So I went out to the garage and measured it. Sure enough, it is 52". And I am just under 5’10". In my lower-seated Vagabond I use a Grey Owl bent of only 48". It feels too short used in the Voyager but I would sure like to try a 50" Can a Zaveral be cut down?

from your description
and the follow-up post, it sounds like you folks are doing what is called a pitch stroke. I prefer it over the J and C because it eliminates the need for a correction at the end of the stroke.

shortening a Zaveral
Yes, a Zaveral can be shortened. Here’s a link to the instructions on their website:



http://www.zre.com/gearcare/paddlesport/howtoshortenpaddle.html

decision time…
Thanks again for all of your input. It was very helpful in this expensive decision.

I e-mailed ZRE, with my measurements, and, it looks like I’m going to go with the Whitewater model, standard 12-degree bent-shaft, factory second!

Now, if there were only some open water around here…well, soon enough!

Emily

Have Fun
with it!

pitch stroke

– Last Updated: Feb-06-05 8:43 PM EST –

To use a traditional J-stroke with a bent shaft is mechanically about impossible. I use a bent shaft when soloing and use what has been called a pitch or Canadian stroke. This stroke works better than a J stroke with straight shafts as well. It is simply a turn of the top hand, cocking the wrist toward the paddle side, during the last part of the stroke. The stroke continues straight back with the blade at an angle to the stroke direction instead of being perpendicular. The last part of any stroke is spent lifting water out of the lake as much as pushing forward, so little forward effort is lost. The stroke imparts enough correction without having to do the J thing. The amount of correction necessary determines how much pitch you need to give the blade and at what point in the stroke you initiate the pitch.

The other corrective stroke I use for very casual, quiet paddling is a forward stroke that transitions into a rudder. At the end of the power stroke, when the top hand is at its lowest point, cock your wrist away from the paddle side-your fingers will be facing the paddle side-and let the blade drag a moment. A bent shaft makes a perfect rudder in this situation as the bend is going away from the boat. I usually let the shaft come to rest gently on the gunnel during the rudder phase of the stroke. This can be a very relaxing, rhythmic and quiet stroke. I use it to keep moving if I am recovering from a hard, windy crossing and don't necessarily wish to stop.

I agree that bents don't work well for most maneuvering strokes, especially draws, prys and sweeps. For this reason I don't use one often when paddling in the stern of a tandem on moving water or when knocking about in tight spaces.

I always carry a bent and a straight paddle in my solo. Should have a spare anyway. I use the bent most of the time.

Weird Grip Is Old Grip
When I read the description of your “weird” grip, something rang a bell. I did a little digging and found the article on “antique” paddles…perhaps more accurately described as old Indian paddles.

They had blades, but no grip…just a straight shaft. Surprise! There is no other way to hold the paddle! If you try to hold it with palm towards you, there is zero control. With the palm facing away from you the stroke turns into a natural J.