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We owe this feather angle to the athletes who practice sprint kayak : they noticed that blades forming a 90° angle with one another offered much less aerodynamic resistance on the aerial blade. This ad- vantage was even more pronounced with a headwind with which a signifi cant part of the energy of the paddle stroke was lost in pushing some air ; not to mention the decrease of the rate of striking build-up due to this resistance. After decades of 90° crossings, angles were decreased to : 45 > 60° with touring paddles. 55 > 65° with wing paddles. 30 > 45° with white water paddles.
The decrease of the angle enabled a more comfortable paddle stroke. The 30° and 45° reductions helped limit the movement of the wrist (mostly the right one) responsible for pivoting.
Left or right crossing ? 90 % of people do right crossings ! For left crossings, don t panic, we make these paddles on demand. The vario S Lock 2 & S-Lock System also offers the possibility of adjusting crossing angles.
The straight shaft is the shaft that is used most often as the hand positioning is free on its whole length.
The ergonomic shaft enables the paddler to keep the alignment of his arm with his hand. The effect of this is less joint stress on the wrist and much more contact surface with the shaft. it is a comfortable hold and we recommend this type of shaft on TOuRing paddles for experienced paddlers who perfectly master their hand placement as the small ergonomic area imposes a very precise positioning. On white water paddles, which are regularly under 2 meters, the hand positioning is done more out of instinct and this is where the ergo shaft can bring a comfort in use from the very fi rst use.
Some purists only swear by fi xed paddles. We used to be like this too, before we started to develop our own adjustable shafts! most of the existing systems are, as far as we are concerned, not very reliable in the rotation blocks and, moreover, the fl exion of the shaft is impaired by double collars.
From this fact, we developed our own adjusting systems and we designed adjustable tubes with constant fl exion.
Fixed or mono : This option means that you have no displaceable adjusting system on your paddle. The length is fi xed.
S-Lock : The Vario S-Lock can be adjusted over 10cm, with an infi nite choice of feathers. It also enables you to adjust your paddle with more precision. This option is recommended for all the paddle-users who want to customize their paddle as much as possible.
S-Lock 2: The vario S-Lock 2 is an evolution of the famous S-lock system. Light, compact, it is functional without any tool. It can be adjusted over 10 cm, with an infi nite choice of feathers. It also enables you to adjust your paddle with more precision.
Fast-Lock : The Fast-Lock can be adjusted over 9cm, by 3cm intervals. it enables you to quickly adjust the length of the paddle without altering its feather angle.
featHerInG / What is its purpose ? 5
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tHe SHaft
fIXed or adJUStaBle Paddle lenGtH :