Werner Grand Prix, what size blade?

[stvandev]

I'm going to give the Werner Grand Prix a go for racing but I'm on the fence on what blade size to get. My current paddle is a Ke Nalu Maliko (85"), which seemed like the right size in their line.  I'm 6'3" and about 195 lbs riding a 14; competitive and in shape.  Any comparisons to what I've got now would be appreciated. Using the paddle for training, racing, and down winding.

[kayadogg]

I was in a similar position at the end of last summer when I switched to the Grand Prix. I chose the M1000, the middle blade size. I also have all three Ke Nalu blades.  The M1000 is comparable to the Maliko for catch and entry. I use the Werner for racing only, Ke Nalu for everything else. I did a 22 mile paddle with the Werner and it tore my shoulders apart.

[stvandev]

Kayadogg,

Thanks for the response, the M1000 is the way I'm leaning.  Did you happen to try the F1000 while making your decision?  Did you keep the same length between the Ke Nalu and the Werner?  Thanks for the insight.

[Foilman]

I'm 5'10 and 180lb. So far I've used the Werner Nitro bent shaft and I'm also trying to decide what new toy (race paddle) to get. I'm leaning more towards the F1000. I figure the F1000 is 270grams lighter than my Nitro which means my shoulders will have to lift 270grams less every stroke. Over the course of a 2 hour race that makes ~4000lb less lifted. Because of that my thought is that going from a 100 sq in blade on the Nitro to a 105 sq in blade on the F1000 should be just fine for me unless I'm missing something here. I tried my friend's 105 sq in paddle and it didn't feel too big.

Rob

[kayadogg]

stvandev, sorry for the late reply, didn't see this until now.  I did try the F1000, I thought it was too big.  Well, I thought it would be too big for the majority of the races that I plan on doing, ones longer than 10 miles.  I think it would have been fine if I did shorter, sprint-type races where I could just blow it out but doing distance races, that blade would have killed me.  As it is, I did a 22-miler with the M1000 and it was rough but that was the first race I did with it.  My body has adjusted to it  now. 

Regarding length... I dropped the Werner down 2 inches from what my Ke Nalu was.  The whole shorter paddle trend got me intrigued and I'm glad I did.  My surf paddle is now 3" overhead and my Werner is about 10 inches over.  (Ke Nalue was 12").  I kept it a little longer due to the thickness of the race boards. 

The one issue I have is going between the Werner and my Ke Nalus because of the shaft size.  If I paddle with my Werner for any length of time and then pick up a Ke Nalu, it feels like a twig.  That feeling doesn't last too long though. 

Hope this helps.

[TN_SUP]

The bent shaft Nitro was my fave until I got used to the Wiki. Now it's hard to transition to the large dia shaft and slower cadence of the Nitro, takes several paddles. Even though I'm slightly faster with the Nitro, I don't like it as much. Would love to try a Grand Prix though.

[corlot]

I owned the large bladed Grand Prix and my brother has the medium. Last season I would go back and forth between my Toro and the Werner. Both are powerful paddles and on longer races (10+ miles) the Werner would beat up the joints. It is a nice and light paddle but does have a long blade. With the long blade you have to really dig to bury and plant in the water. I believe some people like this style of blade because they can control the amount of blade they use. For me I prefer and want the blade completely used.

We had a local race where you had a teammate and both paddled to seperate locations about 3.5km apart. You left the board at the beach, did a swim and then a trail run to other location. You would proceed to hop on your teammates board and paddle combo. My brother and I both had Bark 14 dominators and the different blade sized Grand Prixs. After I finished my run, the medium blade felt like butter. I had a way faster cadence. It really changed my idea bigger is better. Both Werners seem to be hard on my joints and I ended up selling my Grand Prix.

Good luck!