Kayak paddle length for wider canoe

[Gamma1214]

I’d like to see someone using an Impression in a kayak

I have a Brother-in-law that's 6' 7"... If he were inclined to kayak, he might wield it as a "high angle" windmill.

Honestly, he's pretty used to nothing fitting him. He had to stuff himself in my old Ranger once and we almost had to grease him to get out.

 

[sailsman63]

To OP, Some of this has already been covered, but:

• Sitting mid-line in a wider canoe, you're almost certainly going to be going for a low-angle stroke with a dual blade. (The high/vertical style would require sliding to each side on every stroke. Sounds exhausting.)
• At this point, the dimensions are going to be more about how far above the water your shoulders are. This is affected by both torso length and seating height.
• Data point: I'm about your height, slight skew toward a shorter torso for my height. I sit my tandem about 8-9 inches off bottom (4-5 inches above waterline, depending on load) and I've found that 280cm is about right for me. I did need to cut some drip points into my blades to keep water from running back along the shaft. (shop-built, didn't have drip grommets on the shaft.)

If you haven't run with double-blades before, be aware that it's a very different kind of workout. Muscles will need to adjust. Recommend taking a single-blade as backup until your conditioning stabilizes, just so you can switch out if you need to.