I used to paddle with neutral shaft Werner paddles and I wanted to try the same concept with my new found love: the GP.
The idea and execution is a collaboration between myself and a few close friends of mine.
The paddle is a foam core carbon reinforced shell. Unfortunately the first prototype is not as light as we hoped tipping the scales at just over 990 grams.
Once we are happy with the performance and design we will consider creating a mould to craft a lighter model.
On water testing went without a problem. After the initial few minutes of adjustment needed to locate the hands in the "well" the paddle sat nicely and a dramatic improvement in speed was recorded (this time I had to use a GPS even if I don't like the gadget).
Dreamer after testing the new neutral shaft GP
I didn't want to post any close up picture of the paddle since we have applied for a patent and we don't want the industry try to rip our design off (see the case of the electric bilge pump).
Anybody seriously interested in commercially manufacturing the paddle should contact me at gnarlydognews(at)gmail.com
looks interesting
ReplyDeletegood luck with the improvements to come in the future
Hi Damiano - yep we saw it definitively on your website first. :o) Looks very interesting and I would love to see closeups with your hands on - but this will gain access of others to your development... .
ReplyDeleteTo patent of such a paddle - I guess you need a specialized lawyer because describing the "uniqueness" of this will difficult. Please also check other patents. The EU Patent Office website has a public search... http://ep.espacenet.com/advancedSearch?EC=
Regards,
Axel
Very cool! I can't wait to see and hear more about it :D
ReplyDeleteNice one Gnarly! Will you combine this with your previous paddle speaker design for the Elite model??
ReplyDelete;)
Busted! April's fool.
ReplyDeleteFP can smell a rat when he sees one :-)
Time to apologies for having a bit of fun at other's expense.
I am sorry that I have lured some of you that genuinely thought I made a bent shaft GP.
I don't think it would work. The nature of paddling GP is sliding your hands along the shaft and blade, unlike with a Euro where hands stay pretty much in one spot.
To my regular followers I should point out that the dead giveaway should have been the statement: "dramatic improvement in speed".... like I care about that :-)
Cheers everybody.
Till next year.
Hah, you got me. 5 days late, but you got me nonetheless!
ReplyDeleteI didn't have any jokes this year, but a year ago I posted about an epic canoe trip through the central Canadian plains and into the northern forests that included thousands of kilometers of seasonal prairie streams which flow for a week or two in the spring. http://northstarexped.blogspot.com/2010/04/nse-2010-expedition-plans-revealed.html
Cheers & keep up the good work,
Bryan