Not the most efficient for open water
For open water set the oars in the locks and put your back into it. You can go for days at 4 mph in wind waves or flat water. It won’t matter and you won’t get more tired than walking on level ground so long as the wind stays below 15 mph.
it is not any fun to row up a twisty creek but it is a dream to row across a big lake or bay with a canoe that is set up for it.
The guy who bought my Voyager,
rows it and thinks it’s great.
Verlen Kruger had the efficiency thing…
… all figured out. Nobody else paddled the distances that he did, and he did it with a single blade. Saying you are pretty sure you burn fewer calories per mile with a double blade is one thing, but demonstrating it is another, and as Marc points out, your technique is a crucial factor. There have been previous discussion about this here, and a few folks provided logical reasons why a single blade is more “efficient” in the true sense of the word (not the same as faster, not the same as better in all conditions). I accept the idea that Kruger and other real canoe distance masters used/use a single blade for a reason.
Verlen Kruger also used a rudder.
That’s a pretty important point.
Yep, as I mentioned earlier
Still, I think a lot depends on the boat, conditions, and the paddler’s technique. I personally don’t feel like I save energy by using a double-blade, as there’s “too much boat in the way” when in a canoe to perform a proper stroke, but it can be a useful tool when I really need to pour on the coal for a limited amount of time.
Agreed but,…
I definately agree with the Fact that twin oars far surpass single canoe or kayak paddles as far as efficiency go because you can really put your back and legs into the equation,…BUT personally I like to see where I am going,…NOT where I have been, when paddling! LOL
Too much Boat in the Way
Yeah I would agree that if you were paddling a beamy 3 ft wide canoe,…then a single blade works best but my Dagger Sojourn and Wenonah Argosy both have tumblehome and about 27" beam at the gunwales and REALLY work great with a kayak paddle since there is virtually NOT much boat IN THE WAY at all. To each his own as far as what type paddle is best but as the original poster who has 40 years of experience found out,…it can significantly improve efficiency or effectiveness if thats what you want to call it! Happy Paddling to everyone!
Me too.
I agree with the definition
– Last Updated: Sep-20-10 6:03 AM EST –
but not the conclusion. A technique that that induces significant yaw with each stroke and that must be corrected by inducing a counteracting yaw by the successive stroke is inefficient compared to one in which minimal yaw was created in the 1st place. It may be more powerful. It may be easier for some to master. it may be more effective for some. More efficient it is not.
I'm not knocking double blades. They have their place and I know several skilled paddlers that use them effectively. The issue under discussion is efficiency and that has been defined by a previous poster (yatipope).
Marc Ornstein
Dogpaddle Canoe Works
Custom Canoe Paddles and Woodstrip Canoes
Bill Mason says:
In his book Song of the Paddle Bill Mason has this to say about the double blade: “Paddling a canoe solo or double with the traditional steering strokes is fun. In fact it can be an art. But if my main concern were getting to my destination as fast as possible without resorting to a motor, I would use the double blade paddle.” Later in the same paragraph he does allow “it does make for a wet ride.”
That seems to sum it up for me.
I appreciate the discussion.
While I’m convinced the double blade is the way to go for some situations, I won’t be pitching my collection of traditional canoe paddles anytime soon. One condition I haven’t really experimented with is with a full trip load. I’d also like to see what a tandem will do with double blades at the bow and stern. Hell, might as well screw with all the conventions while I’m at it. I will say that a 240 cm paddle requires more work (steeper strokes) than a longer one, even with the Argosy. I’m surprised that there is only one option (BB) on the market for such a paddle. If anyone knows of another maker please let me know. Seems to me some variety in blade configuraton would be interesting.
yaw
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In Argosy, with a forward stroke that starts well ahead with the shaft in contact with a rail and ends at my hip there is some yaw.
These are estimates. Yaw with single blade is under three degrees. Yaw with double blade is less than double that.
Bring the blade past your hip and yes you have significant yaw. Thats operator error.
Efficiency is also a function of the ratio of power phase to the lenghth in time of the total stroke. Your typical single blade stroke has power, correction and recovery. Thats a three phase stroke. Probably 40percent of the stroke is dedicated to power.
The double blade stroke has probably 80 percent of the time of a cycle dedicated to power as there is no correction and the recovery of one stroke coincides with an application of power on the other stroke.
Skilled sit and switchers may have even better results with less yaw.
There is always something new to work on in a canoe.
I have about five double blades..andover 40 singles. I will keep all of them
My widest solo is 30" max beam.
My Wenonah Advantage and Sawyer Summersong both have very narrow gunwales, so I don’t have too much boat in the way. Mechanically, the double blade works pretty well in them, but I still get a lot of paddle drips in the boat.
Different paddlers have different preferences & needs. We should all use whatever works best for us.
Intersting thing about rowing visibility
Since you do need to look where you are going, and since it’s natural to be watching where you’ve been, I sometimes see a lot more when rowing then when paddling.
Rowing on rivers requires freqent checks of the course ahead, to see where the deep water is and to look out for stuff you might run into. However, some of the most interesting views of islands back-channel junctions are found when looking back upstream. Since group trips are always downstream, I usually miss that view when paddling, but not when rowing.
I have no desire to use one of those forward-rowing contraptions. Those things have been around in one form or another for more than 50 years, but they have never caught on. I think one reason must surely be all those moving parts, but another reason is probably that seeing where you are going with traditional rowing isn’t nearly as difficult as non-rowers seem to think.
By “too much boat”, I’m comparing …
… a canoe to a kayak. Kayak paddlers apply their power stroke right alongside the hull in a very efficient, non-curving stroke. To do that with a double-blade in a canoe requires a very awkward vertical stroke that causes the water on the upper blade to just pour down (drip rings in that case only cause the water to scatter, not stay out of the boat), so instead, canoe double-bladers use a longer paddle and a low-angle stroke.
Makes sense to me
Ever wonder why you hear a lot of canoeists going to double paddles, but you never hear a kayaker talking about discovering the joys of using a single blade paddle in his kayak?
Untrue.
There’s at least one regular poster here - forgive me for forgetting exactly who - that has fairly recently expressed exactly that.
double blade
does not feel right when I use it from the seat height that is set on my solo canoe. At the end of a long trip my shoulder and tendonitis is aggravated. If I were going to use the double blade exclusively I would set my seat much lower and use the footbrace.
My 10 oz ZRE makes my speed slower by .5 mph but no shoulder pain at end of day is worth the slower pace.
Besides, there’s no comparison…
… between paddling the two boat styles. For example, a standard style of gripping a single blade would put your lower hand at the water’s surface if sitting in a kayak, and the paddle would be so short that strokes requiring “reach” would be ineffective. The whole paddling style is different too. Kayakers maneuver by steering, in the manner of a ship or vehicle, while canoers maneuver by that method AND in the manner of a dolly on swiveling casters, which is where the single-blade comes into its own.