WTB Kenalu Mana 90

[Luc Benac]

Well I have just ordered a Hydro 78 blade to try it and check if I am on a downward spiral.
When you bury the Mana 82 and use proper technique, it sure feels like you are working for it. I would never dismiss it as a "small" paddle.

[Luc Benac]

I generally quit after four or five strokes with the Mana 90--very high effort and I just run out of poop. With the 82 I was hitting six or seven strokes and catching waves I wasn't getting with the 90.

This is what I noticed lately on DW with my 14' Vapor. I took the Mana 82 on a day that I did not expect wind and low and behold got into bumps.... I took my Mana 90 yesterday and nearly dropped my arms off their socket after repeated strokes.
I am reassessing my paddle strategy downward. Bigger blades on flatter days and smaller blades on windy days. Just the opposite of what i have been doing.

[gone_foiling]

Thanks for this life hack - if it works that changes everything  Well I hear you about QB paddles - expensive/not as flexible as kenalu in terms of swapping parts/adjustments. I bought all my QB as second hand around $300. New QB paddle prices make me cringe and also new shaft design - I have not been really fond of.

Talking about shafts, I'm going to mount my Mana 82 on a ZRE oval shaft along with my custom palm grip, that would really make the Mana one of my all time favorite for open water.
Did the same thing to my QB V-Drive and it's really working well. So that's another option for you.

As for the Hydro 88, since it has a very thick shaft, I hope the blade is not too thick for your Kenalu shaft, please check and report back with your findings, that would be helpful.

Sold my black project today But I might get just a 83 blade to put on kenalu shaft and see if I can better my trifecta time.

[gone_foiling]

My right shoulder has been hurting lately and I managed to pull a tendon on what I guess is actually called my third finger (next to the little) on my right hand--sprint paddling for waves with a foil. So it's back to an xTuf(S) for me. My friend Rod Parmenter left a Mana 82 for me to fix--he hit his foil with it and broke the blade. I did a one-sided repair on it and tried it out yesterday. My, my, quite a paddle. I was actually able to accelerate quicker and catch more waves than with my Mana 90. I need to do the repair on both sides, the tip is now flexing too much after using it, but I found the catch to be very impressive as long as I was focusing on pushing down more than pulling.

More importantly, it's super-quick, probably quicker than a Wiki and definitely quicker than a Konihi 82 or my usual Mana 90. My cadence might be as much as 50% faster with the 82 over the Mana 90. And that's with my third and middle fingers duct-taped together. The quick cadence and good catch mean more acceleration over a longer period. I generally quit after four or five strokes with the Mana 90--very high effort and I just run out of poop. With the 82 I was hitting six or seven strokes and catching waves I wasn't getting with the 90. I am also not pulling myself off the board or sinking the rail as I was doing with the 90--there's less tendency to stretch out the strokes since I know I can get the blade back in the sweet spot quickly.

Before this accidental experiment, I hadn't thought any specific paddle would be important for foiling. Karla Aguera is using a hideous fiberglass shafted heavy log and doing fine. But now I know better.

Good to know about your Mana 82 conclusions. Makes my purchasing decisions harder I really started to love mana 82 but initially I didn't think much of it - now I am impressed.