Tumpline Taking a Stand
MORE PADDLERS NOT UPTIGHT BEING UPRIGHT
FOR THE FIRST TIME since the bent-shaft paddle there’s a move- ment afoot that’s rocking the canoe, mostly because it goes against the first rule of pad- dling—don’t stand up in the boat. A group of
fringe canoeists, inspired by a resurgence in stand-up paddle surfing, have adopted surfing’s six-foot-long paddles and evolved from canoeist incubare to canoeist erectus. “It feels like I should have been doing
this for years,” says Mark Scriver, a recent stand-up paddling convert, former open canoe world freestyle champion and sales rep for Aqua-Bound Paddles. When standing with a longer paddle on
flatwater he says he is able to brace with the full blade in the water. From the higher van- tage point he has a better view of the lake, a better angle of vision which cuts through the water’s surface glare to reveal submerged obstacles, longer reach with his fishing cast and, above all, a more powerful and longer stroke that he can get his whole body into. “Tis thing went huge last summer,”
says John McLaughlin of Sawyer Paddles. McLaughlin says most of the interest in stand-up paddles is from long-boarding surfers and fishermen, but increasing num- bers of canoeists are requesting one of the three new models of long paddles that Saw- yer has released in just the last year and a half. McLaughlin adds an improved sense of balance to the benefits enjoyed by stand- up paddlers, which may be a marketing- minded way of saying that yes, canoes do get tippier when you stand up in them. McLaughlin says most stand-up canoeists
use paddles that are about 78 inches long with a bent, carbon-fibre-reinforced shaft and a small, rounded blade. Te shaft is much stronger than a normal paddle, to al- low for the increased power paddlers can ex- ert while standing up. For the tentative con- vert, Aqua-Bound is releasing a telescoping paddle that can extend from normal canoe paddle to stand-up paddle to 12-foot pole. So, where is stand-up canoeing headed?
“I can see this catching on with more expe- rienced paddlers,” says Scriver. “It’s fun to try something different.” —Ryan Stuart
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PHOTO:
STRAZZANTIPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
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