A year after my report he published a report in the Seakayaker of june 1996.
I feel rather pleased as his conclusions are surprisingly comparable with mine. If you want, you can read his report (written in better, real English) by clicking here.
René van der Zwan
Hi Itay,
Thank you for your comment.
I agree that you can paddle a wing under difficult conditions and that you go definitely faster.
But best is: only go as fast forward as you can. But that is also what a wing is designed for.
And going fast is what you see from the sufski guys
At the moment you start manouevring with a wing in heavy weather (for instance while helping your paddling-mate), the wing can play trics with you as I described.
And another thing; here in Holland we have often dumping waves in surf. When such a wave of 2 meters heigth is dumping on my head, I don't trust a wing completely in such waves while bracing to stay upright in my kayak.
I feel more safe than with a conventional paddle with big power blade.
Another issue in using a wing in heavy weather is: what is the water-temperature? If the climate is mild and the water warm I would risk more, knowing that I will not get into trouble because of cold water.
But may be it is also a matter of mentality: do you go for the highest speed of do you want to play safe.
Regards
René
Email: ety-b [at] 013 [dot] net
ITAY BAHAR
for the past year i have been mainly paddling with a wing at sea but also with my conventional werner and lendal as well as an occassional greenland paddle (as back up) i like to be accustomed to all blade shapes because each one has its advabtages and disatvantages. i see the surf ski guys from south africa and australia paddle wings in extremely harsh wheather and i think if those aggressive paddlers are using it so can I.
i mainly like the wing because i simply can go faster with it than i can with a conventional paddle.
Website - Email: stevie [at] brooklynkayak [dot] com
Stevie McAllister
I know this is a late comment, but this post needs more comments. It is a good subject.
Although I rarely paddle with a wing, I do try to practice skills with them.
The one issue I have is that you have to be a bit more careful with rough water skills for my taste.
I have tendency to do some sloppy sculling when I brace and the wing requires that the blade be oriented carfully for sculling.
Sweep and sculling type rolls can be touchy with a wing. I tend to only use bracing rolls with a wing as I tend to trip up on a wing otherwise.
I also believe that there is more potential for shoulder injuries with a wing in rough conditions because of the requirement for more precision.
But these opinions are comming from someone who has little experience with a wing.
Rene van der Zwan
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