A little background on my style of paddling; I'm Marshall Seddon, the full time Owner/Instructor of The River Connection, avid kayak racer that does better than OK in the race results, habitual high angle paddler that can also use a Greenland Stick, ACA certified instructor, whitewater, sea kayak and adaptive paddling backgrounds, 6' 190lbs, each of the paddles are 215cm long 2 piece configurations.
Specs:
$295 Straight Shaft 2 Piece Fiberglass Cadence Paddle w/std. carbon spigots
Weight FG: 26.1 oz (740 g)
Weight Carbon: 24.6 oz (697 g)
15 5/8" x 6 3/4" Blade face (measured from tip to shoulder of paddle)
19 3/4" x 6 3/4"" Blade face (measured from tip to end of hozzle)
Blade Surface Area: 625 cm2
Mfg. Description:
Our new Cadence Paddle has arrived. A carbon/glass shaft and rugged fiberglass blades results in a pleasing swing weight with great return on every stroke. Designed to suit all paddlers from novice to advanced; it is built to allow the novice paddler to move up to an intermediate skill level seamlessly.
Initial Observations:
Subtle but refined dihedral to the center of the blade with a bit less width than a Werner Shuna and an ounce lighter, with the noticeable difference in shaft shape. This sits absolutely naturally in my hands so I'm expecting like with it's cousin the Storm, rolling, sculling, prying, etc. the blade orientation will be automatic as the direction can be felt in the shaft shape rather than feeling for the blade resistance. I'm looking forward to putting some miles on this paddle!
A Few Miles on the Cadence:
11/16/13 Hudson River, Hyde Park, NY
Conditions: Positively flat calm with no wind. Good to minimize the environmental variables so as to get an accurate feel on the paddle. Distance covered, about two miles of mixed intensity paddling.
On the initial couple of strokes one of the first things I noticed was the very natural feeling ergonomically indexed grip areas. I'll have to measure my grip width but just for reference my grip area is in my body's strongest push up position, a hand width wider than the points of my shoulders (I take a 42 jacket). My hands fell on the inner edge of the grip area with plenty of grip area outboard of my hands. Anyone that takes a size 46+ jacket will have space to spare.
There are no drip rings on the paddle. I'm right handed so with a 45 degree feather to the blades drippage would land on my foredeck near my feet. While it doesn't phase me typically paddling a P&H Cetus MV with sprayskirt other paddlers that are used to drip rings might want to add a set.
As I mentioned that the grip areas are ergonomically shaped, it allows for extremely good kinesthetic feedback for determining the blade angle without having to think about it. I look forward to this shaft shape in the hands of beginners who have a habit of twirling or losing orientation of the paddle blades on more rounded shafts. Like the indexing on Saltwood paddles this will likely eliminate that tendency for the blades to wander if someone is strangling the paddle.
The Shaft/Blade combination has an unexpected springy feel much like a wood shaft like on a Mitchell Black Magic or Saltwood Hustle. This helps attribute to a phrase that kept coming up in my on-water notes on this paddle, Very Smooth.
Continuing with the Very Smooth theme, the blades exhibited no flutter in any high or mid height angle no matter how hard I would pull on the blade or rotate in a stroke. The bite of the blades, again Very Smooth. I felt that I had plenty of power to the blade but could paddle all day without fatigue.
On sculling for support, sculling draws and prying, solid pressure build up on the blade that provided a very supportive feel. The 215cm length felt a little long. I could probably use a 210cm as effectively but this might be a bit of an illusion due to the longer throat of the blade before it flares out into it's powerface.
