: good morning everyone,

: I hope all is well.

: Many Thanks for the tips down below with an older post of my Gp
: paddle issues (not fast enough)

: anyway holding the paddle with a proper "Cant" vs using
: it flat was MUCH MUCH better, But all day long I was aprox 1 min
: behing the group of 6 rec yacks and a canoe.

: My brother timed me a few times and again I was consistantly 60-70
: sec behind the group all day.

: My strokes were 2-3 -1 of the euro paddle group.

: Im thinking that My paddle might be a tad lacking in surface area
: for my PARTICULAR Needs 85" long 3.25 wide AL style flat
: one side spined on the other.

: the flat side was faster but harder to control.

: My boat is a shearwater merganser 17W 23" im 250LB Im thinking
: that a GP or AL paddle will work fine but I need a bit more
: surface area and/or length due to boat size/my wt in order to Up
: my distance/speed while staying at 2 -1 strokes of the group.

: wider blade perhaps a bit longer both???

: your thoughts please.

: with the canted stroke I was not out in left field like I have been
: (way behind group,using blade flat ) but I dont want to have to
: do 3-4 stroke - 1 to keep up, thats like spinning out with the
: touring bicycle.

: Many thanks

: "John"

One thing that's different with most people paddling with a GP is the acceleration is slower, so the group you're paddling with just gets ahead of you until you get up to speed. Paddling though is a combination of the engine (you) the paddle and technique. Technique takes time to learn, it's not something you'll learn in an afternoon. Strength of the engine makes a difference too though one of the fastest paddlers I know is a 90 lb. female, so strength isn't everything by a long shot. Of course she paddles a long skinny boat that with her weight doesn't sit in the water very far so she can afford to not have the strength. A 250 lb. paddler will sink the boat more and have more drag to start with. That said, my GP is fairly short, 84" and fairly wide 3 3/4" and I normally set the pace, of course I do the same thing with a euro paddle too.

Bill H.