How Racing Changed Canoeing For The Better

[Glenn MacGrady]

"Our everyday lives are filled with inventions that have come out of the world of racing. We drive cars with antilock brakes. We ride bicycles with index shifting. Even the canoes we paddle are influenced by racing. Competitive canoe racing motivated the development of many canoe features and techniques that we now take for granted. These innovations help us paddle farther with less effort, even if we’ll never enter a canoe race."

Need For Speed: How Racing Changed Canoeing For The Better

Competitive canoe racing spurred the development of many canoe features and techniques that we now take for granted. Here are some highlights.

paddlingmag.com

 

[snapper]

I probably wouldn't have ever picked up a bent shaft paddle if it weren't for the General Clinton Canoe Regatta. I liked it so much that I kept it for the majority of my touring needs after that. The current bent shaft I have is only a 10 degree angle so it's a nice compromise between the advantages of a bent shaft and the beauty of a straight shaft paddle. I still keep a straight shaft as my back-up but I do enjoy having the other as my main paddle.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[memaquay]

Best uses for a bent shaft paddle

 

[yknpdlr]

Looking at my small collection of bent shaft carbon paddles and several straight wood paddles in winter storage in my camp. I have more of each that live in my canoe shed lakeside. I use a band of white duct tape on the bents below the grip with numbers from 8-4 to indicate size (48-54") and to distinquish mine from my paddling partner's paddles when portaging during races.

 

[jdeerfoot]

I first became acquainted with bent shaft paddles in the early 1980’s when I met the owner of a neighborhood hardware store. One day I noticed a long, thin fiberglass canoe at the back of the store. While talking to the store owner I learned he raced this canoe and I recall that it was a Jensen canoe. I paddled on the local river a few times with him and first used a bent shaft. I also picked a few tips on more efficient paddling which I continue to use.

While I do own a number of bent shaft paddles I generally prefer straight shaft paddles.

 

[Alan Gage]

As I recall racers were the ones who began building modern cedar strip canoes with fiberglass as it allowed them to experiment with new designs.

Alan

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

For those who haven't read the short article, the advances in canoeing attributed to racers are: ultralight composite construction, bucket seats, foot braces, sliding seats, bent shaft paddles, and the sit-and-switch forward stroke. I believe all of that to be true.

In whitewater paddling, it has been the slalom and downriver racing influence (now including the freestyle/rodeo competitions) that has produced many of the cutting edge hull designs, thigh straps, hip blocks, curved blade paddles, and turning maneuvers such as the Duffek.

 

[tketcham]

My Wenonah Advantage would go right along using a Zaveral Power Surge bent shaft paddle. I never raced but I certainly enjoyed the benefits of a sleek canoe and an efficient paddle that racing cultivated. And those lightweight carbon paddles sure make it easier getting our Wenonah Odyssey up to cruising speed.

 

[Robin]

I can honestly say that canoe racing has done nothing for me. I still use a clunky old ash beavertail paddle, my canoe is a 80-plus-year-old design and I can't remember when I ever wanted to speed from point A to point B in a canoe.
I'm kinda proud of that.

 

[tketcham]

...I can't remember when I ever wanted to speed from point A to point B in a canoe.

I don't think of it as an either/or experience. I enjoy slowly meandering along the shoreline of a small pond just as much as I do flying down a big reservoir. I take pride in doing both.

 

[yknpdlr]

"The pleasantest distance between two points is the meander"
-"Just John" Jay Baumann,1945-1994, Wilderness guide, BSA senior Voyageur trek leader instructor