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Now that I think more on it with that in mind, if I was selling solo recreational canoes and sponsoring that race, I would probably at least discourage the use of single blades just to make sure everyone has a good time. Nothing wrong with that. Makes sense to me now.

I've mentioned this before. The long blade does a pretty good imitation of a sailboat keel when paddling broadside to the wind. The most efficient deep keels are long and narrow, like a sailplane wing. My gut tells me (having compared but not measured scientifically) that this carries over to...

I could one-up your cynicism and ask if any paddle makers are sponsoring these races. :D

My grandson asked just the other day, "how many paddles do you have, Papa?" " Not as many as I'd like." :) He hasn't seen all the canoes yet. :D

I often bring an ottertail and a pole or two in the tandem. Anywhere I can't use the big paddle without harming it, I just pole.

The 4 door cab on my truck is so long, there's no practical way to use hood loops with any of my canoes - none of them being over 17' long. The bars mounted to the cap are spaced pretty far apart and anchored well, but I wanted some kind of failsafe. So I mounted a third bar to the cab. Work's...

Now let's do beaver vs otter. :D I gave away my beavertail after trying the modified ottertail.

I don't want to race though. My racing days ended long ago with the sale of my last motocross bike. But race rules, in my experience, have always been about either safety or limiting unfair advantages (real or perceived). Is there a safety advantage to requiring the double in this class meant to...

I still think there is a noticeable difference in fatigue, but quantifying that might be pretty difficult. I'll have to do my comparison with wood. But first, I'll have to come up with a (cheap) heart monitor - and a day with no wind.....that I don't have some project thrust upon me.

Well, I get that allowing a double helps participation. But disallowing a single blade? Does the presence of a single blade practitioner intimidate the kayakers???

It still boggles my mind that the race would require paddling with a double. Surely there's a reason for that, but I can't think of a good one - unless the single is viewed as an unfair advantage. ;)

Could it be that there is something else in play? Like maybe fatigue factor? I recall reading long ago something about not tending to accidentally lift water at the end of the stroke when using a bent. Is that not really a thing?

People are constantly surprised at how well a 12' pole works as the paddle. But part of the trick is that while standing you can have a lot of pole in the water simply by bending more at the knees, and the power portion of the stroke can be longer than that of a seated double paddler without...

Thanks, that helps. I can see there is some difference, but it's not obvious other than the profile. I wonder what the measurements are. Hey Grok - what are the physical differences between Olympic K1 and C1 sprint boats? Hmm. We left out the C1 width. Hey Grok, what is the width of those...

Now, I would like to see their boats. (I don't follow the Olympics).

Does this suggest that it's ultimately the boat that determines your tripping speed?

LOL. All my canoe stuff is old. Not "vintage" old, but nothing cutting edge or even newer than 14 years old .

I'm a little surprised. My initial thought was that the test is biased to the double, since you're sitting low in that shallow canoe. You were sitting with both paddles, right? Am I misjudging the seat hight?

Interesting. I am one of those who went right from a straight wood to a carbon bent. The light weight has to have made a significant portion of the difference. I acquired the BB Viper only a couple of years ago, and really hadn't used it much until this summer. I did alternate some between it...

Got the contoured seat installed, and took it out for a spin today. I like the seat, and I still have plenty of room under it - but I'm going to raise it a bit and see if I like it even more.....or not. Weather defied the forecast (again) and I had 20+ mph winds. The long fetch and wake boats...