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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
Re: Thank you! *Pic*
Posted By: Greg Stamer In Response To: Re: Thank you! (Karl)
Date: Monday, 2 June 2003, at 4:19 p.m.
: Specific to the wing, when sculling with the blunt edge leading, it is super
: easy because it does create lift. Holy smokes, does it ever! Almost feels
: like a paddle float. So, with the blunt edge leading, go slow and long,
: ie, milk it. The return is what is interesting. Firm control of the the
: angle of attack (maybe that is why GP users think a GP is better, angle of
: attack is easier to control), and being quick to return, almost skipping
: the blade. It does work, it is harder, but with a little practice...The GP has very little tendency to dive and thus the sculling motion is extremely easy to perform and yet it generates very good lift. Part of the appeal of the GP is that since the paddle is symmetrical you can scull in either a low brace or high brace, sweep forward or backward, without any surprises or change in technique.
I agree with you that body position is more important than the paddle motion or paddle choice. If you learn a balance position then you can float similar to a balance brace without *any* paddle movement. This requires that you rotate to get your back flat on the water (you may need to shift in the cockpit and sit somewhat on the side of the seat), and then arch your back or push with your legs to keep the kayak "pushed away" from you (the deck should be at about a 45 degree angle to the water). Keep your head immersed while looking straight upward. Once your torso enters the water your weight and pressure will shift to the lower leg. Most folks have the kayak deck at 90 degrees or greater to the surface which causes the kayak to push their torso under water and tends to cause a lot of frantic sculling.
A view of the Greenland side scull technique is shown below. In this example I am not even sculling, just sitting in a balanced position. This is where a buoyant paddle helps. Note that the upper hand acts only as a platform. All sculling motion is accomplished with the outboard hand. Threads on sculling are fairly common on the Greenland forum. One thread is at http://www.qajaqusa.org/cgi-bin/GreenlandTechniqueForum_config.pl/noframes/read/833.
Greg Stamer
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