: Must be the season. I've been thinking about this too. Last weekend I paddled
: my usual 10.3 Nmile run on Santa Monica Bay playing with a small
: metronome, GPS (& my 17' Great Auk).
: I averaged 4 knots outbound, 3.5 home. Basically typical given my current
: conditioning, etc... Good conditions 3 foot swell. a little wind... The
: metronome helped a bit going against the incoming tide at the beginning.
: On the bay it was clear that stroke technique was critical. It was also
: clear that I don't usually paddle more than 5-10 minutes with the same
: stroke.
: What's important however seems to be paddle technique and acceleration in the
: water. I was able to keep up (briefly) almost 5 knots with considerable
: effort, heart rate 140 bpm. After a few minutes rest I was then able to
: keep the same pace with a much lower effort and much lower heart rate.
: Clean entry and as rapid as possible short stroke with the cleanest
: possible exit seems to be ideal--at least for me.
: To speed up my stroke I push forward with my off-stroke side pivoting on my
: power arm.
: A lot of my excess and wasted exertion takes place at the end of my stroke. I
: calculated once in a six hour paddle with 3600 strokes an hour (cadence of
: 60 per minute) I had liftied 43000 lbs of water for no good reason.
: Speaking with other paddles, outriggers, surf skis etc... if it's speed you
: want the surf skis seem to have the most advanced hulls, the outriggers
: are second and we kayakers lag behind..... (of course there are other
: important considerations for us to keep our 'yaks.) The best stroke also
: seems to be difficult to consistently execute because it's not 'even' like
: walking.

: Anyway, that's my two cents.

: Will

Well since you're in an area that has surf ski's, see if one of the guys will loan you a wing and offer some instrution on it's use. Vastly more efficient stroke with a wing paddle. Don't try a normal stroke with a wing, you'll spend alot of time swimming if you do

Around here I had to buy my wing on faith then get a video to learn how to use it, and swam alot the first day too.

Bill H.