C4 Racing Paddle

[greatdane]

Anybody tried this paddle or heard anything about it?  Saw it on their web site...

[Sam Pa'e]

Anybody tried this paddle or heard anything about it?  Saw it on their web site...

I've seen it early this year (May) during a demo day in Haleiwa. Todd had the prototype and I had a chance to paddle it. Feels light, a little flex, and comfertible. I never had a chance to surf it nor do a downwind with it.

But several weeks ago Brian K. was surfing with it and was killing it at Makaha

Aloha........Sam

[SUPer Dave]

Looking to make a low volume blad with my board shaper this winter...Less paddle for big wave surfing..Even might help going down the line at Mach speed..You know your going soooo fast and you paddle positioning becomes importaint do too wind drag...And paddling in to the big stuff with less volume blade might benificial .thats what i think..i have been fortunate to be hooked up with Kailoa Paddles..aloha  my friends..

[SD Ryan]

Anybody tried this paddle or heard anything about it?  Saw it on their web site...

Mine just came but I haven't had time to cut it yet.  The shaft seems more or less the same as the other carbon C4 paddles but the blade is very different from anything I've seen.  It is lighter for sure but the thing that stands out the most (besides the good looks from the shape and the kevlar in the weave) is the flex.  It's amazing how much flex at the tip and how little further up the blade face. I really look forward to seeing how it feels.  Todd Bradley, the designer, is a paddling guru and from the looks of it he used his experience to come up with an incredibly progressive product.  Clearly I'm biased (or I wouldn't have ordered the paddle) but that bias is based on how stoked I have been with my C4 carbon paddles.  I'll try to be as objective as possible while evaluating the new XPR race paddle and I'll post what I find.

[aquamoose]

Have has my 86" XPR for over a month & love it.

Very light swing weight, solid bite, nice flex on the stroke and a smooth release.

Blade is smaller than I usually use, been racing with a 9 1/2" blade in flat conditions like the Colorado River Race but I've grown use to the 8 1/2 width as the efficiency of this paddle makes up for the smaller bite.

[greatdane]

Aquamoose... thanks for the report on the paddle.  Is that a 18' Bark in the photo?

[Shnoover]

Jay Butki... Where do I know that name from??