Racing Paddle Recommendations

[shapeshifter]

let's do it.

[1tuberider]

Is anyone using a wood paddle for racing?

I prefer the additional weight and flex I feel in my wood paddle over my carbon paddles.  I have been using both paddles off and on for over a year and keep going back to wood.

I try to paddle with purpose as Shawn Michael describes as the blade stays stationary and we pull past it, but I see some paddle slippage.  I am thinking of a bigger blade or a sticky blade that locks in place.  My resistance to pull is high already and a stickier bigger blade will only make more resistance but it makes sense to man up and pull the biggest blade you can handle.

Any thoughts on wood or blade shape or training?

[stoneaxe]

Spoon blade like the QB peahi. I think part of the reason my home made wood paddle broke was because of the spoon shape. It grabbed water like crazy...unfortunately the shaft didn't match my strength/size. Unfortunately I've just been laid off from work...the good news is that I have a bunch of wood just waiting to be turned into paddles. I'm going to try the same design but this time with the laminations oriented for strength and I'll add some glass as well.
http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=716.0
http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=737.0

[1tuberider]

That was a nice looking paddle stoneax and glad it got recycled.  It could also be shortened for knee paddle size.

The shaft on my paddle is around 1 1/2 x 2.  It is made out of straight grain fir.  It may groan every so often but no breaks.  For my next paddles I am mixing wood like mahogany, bass wood, walnut and fir for the shaft. I would like to try teak but the cost of the wood yikes!  My paddle does weigh more.

My blades look like yours in basic shape.  But I have some ideas I want to try, something like you mentioned multiple blades.  Trying to come up with a paddle that stays put but does not weigh to much.

I like the wood paddle so much I want to make some and see if I can make it better.  I like the additional weight over carbon, I like the flex of the shaft and the look.  Just make sure you hang on to it and not get hit by it if it gets loose.

[stoneaxe]

The thing I liked about that shape blade was that it was slightly spoon shaped but released at the bottom. It really grabbed water but was very smooth to paddle. I just need to make the shaft stronger on the next one.

Here's a good list of woods to get an idea of relative weight and strength. The ideal combination is a lower density (under 500) and higher modulus of rupture.
http://www.worldwideflood.com/ark/wood/timber_list.htm

Unfortunately density equals strength for the most part with wood. I'm using mostly cedar and mahogany with a poplar stringer now. Having the laminations in the proper direction and adding the glass should do the trick. Might be worth trying a very thin stringer of very dense wood too.