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The Lendal Kinetik Wing paddle: Surprise!

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As I had a rather nasty workingday last wednesday, I was looking for something to set my mind on other things. The idea was born to test the increase in speed when paddling my Lendal Kinetik Wing paddle if compared to a conventional paddle.
As you probably now from my website or weblog, I am working on a test with this paddle. Until now I only wrote a temporary testreport because I needed more time to get completely used to this paddle before I could judge all paddle techniques to do with the paddle. To give myself an extended testing period, and because my light weight paddle needs to be replaced, I bought myself such a paddle two years ago.

Normal paddling practise is quite good now since I, as well as all other muscles you need for this paddle, got used to this way of paddling. So, since a year or so I always paddle the wing.

Having concluded that this wing asks for a high concentration level to get the most speed from it, I had already for long an action-point: to investigate if you paddle really faster with this hybrid wing.
I call it a hybrid wing because it is kind of a mix between a conventional paddle and a competition wing. It has certainly not the grip a competition wing has.

The way to investigate the efficiency of the paddle long bothered my mind. The problem is of course there are influences as "getting tired", "wind", "waves" and many others.

Finally I decided to give it a try by taking 2 paddles with me and to change paddles in every comparable stretch of water, while measuring speed with a GPS.

So I did tonight.

Approach:
Paddles were:


Schlegel
weight: 1400g
lenght: 2,18m

Wing
weight: 900g
lenght: 2,21m
I paddled constantly at an exercise pace in a Nordkapp HM, alternating with both paddles and to compensate for the tiring effects of my muscles, I changed paddles quite often, preferably every comparable stretch with the same weatherconditions; at least 1 change in each stretch.
Circumstances: wind SW 4 - 6 Bft
 
Having started I realized that paddling the Schlegel paddle has a handicap-factor because I did not use it for 1,5 years and because it is approximately half as heavy.
So in theory, paddling the Schlegel should be less fast as with the wing because I am less used to it now and I have to lift a heavy dead weight with every stroke.
I was very, very surprised however as the speeds I reached with both paddles were very close together. In fact I had the feeling the Schlegel was a little bit faster. Calculating with the heavier weight as handicap-factor, that should certainly be the case.
Underneath you find a graph with the speeds.
Of course you will notice influences of the different stretches with different wind-directions and windforce.
But certainly it is very clear that the "speedlevel" with both paddles is very close together. To my opinion there is no significant difference between the two at all.
 
My conclusions from tonight are:
+) The "Schlegel racing paddle" is certainly a very good paddle with excellent grip and with no fluttering.

+) The Lendal Kinetik Wing is a very pleasant paddle with superb characteristic for in- and outset of the blades in the water, no flutter, minimal turbulence, a very smooth, soundless and almost dripless paddlestroke. It´s all perfect. A paddle you can paddle with for hours without getting tired with it.

+) The Wing is NOT really faster than the Schlegel. For short periods of time with high concentration level and with much trunk-rotation, it is possible to go faster. However it is difficult to maintain this as the paddle does not force you, in the way competition wings do, to paddle wide with the blades flying sideways as far as possible every stroke. So after some time as the concentration level lowers a little, the speed drops immediately to the level from a conventional paddle.

+) Taking into account that the Schlegel paddle is much heavier, it could well be that a conventional paddle of less weight can beat this wing.
Probably I should repeat this exercise with a conventional Carbon paddle.

Future investigations:
I think I will invite JosD from the club for a paddletour with frequent paddle-changes, at exercise pace, as his paddle seems to meet my requirements for a paddle: good grip and no flutter.
How about it Jos?

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