: 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"

Hi John,
85" is short for an aluet style paddle, most are closer to 96". And from what I've read, the aluet paddle was used without cant. I think if you cant an AP you lose power as the water flow is off one edge but the blade is designed to have the water flow off both edges. It's also used with a more vertical stroke than a GP is usually used.

Mike Savage
South West Cork