I have owned and paddled a whole variety of wing paddles over the years. And I am a bit obsessed with good form during the stroke, so I am tuned to how each paddle behaves. Each maker has subtle variations in twist, offset, depth of dish and tear drop versus spoon shaped. For example I have owned both a mid and large wing by Legend (a New Zealand company) a Quickblade neutron (no longer offered by the company who is now SUP focused). A Kajner mid wing, All of the epic wings (small, mid and large), an SRS from Canada, a Stellar Kayaks wing, a Swiss made Swartzer (the black) and a beautifully made Onno small-mid wing. While in general they all have a similar function (wing performance and lift), each does have unique characteristics. For example, the shaft on the Onno always felt too small for my hands, the Quickblade was the lightest of all, but very technical to use (would spin out if your stroke was less than ideal), the Kajner had an aggressive catch, but faded during the stoke which made me nervous in sloppy water, the stellar felt dead for a high angle paddle stroke, but was better for a low angle style form. The Swartzer has the best entry of any of them and is incredibly stiff (love that paddle, but perhaps too much power for ultra distances), and the Epic wings are the most forgiving of a sloppy paddle placement and are excellent distance racing paddles. Yes I am a gear junkie, but I did paddle all these blades for at least several months and many of them I still own and use.
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So how does this new mid wing offering from RPC3 stack up? The feel on the water is closest to an Epic or Onno wing in terms of performance. It perhaps has ever-so-slightly less dish than the epic and perhaps a bit more twist than the Onno mid-wing. It is almost the same size as an Epic mid wing, but perhaps a fraction smaller (I can obscure the rpc3 behind my epic mid wing). Making it about ½ way between the typical small-mid and typical mid wing (a perfect size IMHO). The shaft is an all carbon two piece and it has the standard lever lock for feather and length adjustment system (this system is now standard on most all paddles on the market). The shaft is ovalized, but only a touch. Note: I have never been a big fan of how ovalized the epic wing paddle shaft was, while this RPC3 shaft is ovalized, it is to a lesser degree. I actually really like that feature and in fact still prefer non-ovalized shafts (I blister less on ultra marathons on a round shaft). The paddle is very light, not as light as my Swartzer, but certainly as light as my full carbon epic wing. It performs great, with all the forgiveness of an Epic wing and in many ways reminds me of the Onno I had.
