Thoughts on double bladed paddles from a somewhat experienced double blader.

I had to look up Serge Corbin to see that he is a marathon racer. I'm sure his race results wouldn't have been the same if he mainly used correction strokes. My gut feeling is that I go 10 to 15% faster by switching. I think the Canadians aversion to switching goes back to their reverance for Bill Mason.

I started out as a 100% correction stroke guy for my first 12 or 13 years but became almost 100% sit and switch, because it got me where I was going quicker. That lasted about 25 years when most of my paddling was done on trips and I was always pressed for time and pushing it. The last 7 or 8 years I've been doing more pleasure paddling and have reverted back to doing more correction strokes. Now I do a combination of switching and corrections. When I'm exclusively switching it is the wind that dictates when I switch sides, I almost always paddle on the downwind side of the boat.

I did a test using an app some months ago, and for raw efficiency and speed, it was no contest. Double blade excels. I’ve found the 260cm paddle works best for my size and canoes. I’ve used a double in a variety of solo canoes. There’s no replacing it. I do prefer a single blade many times, and the single is easier on my bad hands, but for wind, waves, big water and getting safely from A to B, a double blade is far superior.

Maybe, but did your app track your progress for an entire day, or a short distance? Based on my limited experience (I have one chum who has gone to the double blade dark side) we both arrive at camp at the end of the day at the same time, but I look better with my classy single stick.

memaquay said:

Maybe, but did your app track your progress for an entire day, or a short distance? Based on my limited experience (I have one chum who has gone to the double blade dark side) we both arrive at camp at the end of the day at the same time, but I look better with my classy single stick.

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For 1/2 mile a dedicated racing canoe is way faster than a 16' quick recreational hull. But after 5 miles the average speed is only a couple tenths of a MPH quicker for the racing hull. At least with me paddling.

I think I still have a double bladed paddle somewhere in the basement and I have a canoe it would be well suited for. One of these nights I'll have to run time trials comparing the single and double. I'll use heart rate as well to track exertion levels. I just need to find a lake where no one can see me.

Alan