Joe O' Paddles

   Well, the yard is filling up fast. Received a load of Tahe Marine sea kayaks last night, quickly unwrapped them and put them all onto the racks before supper. 

   Took one of them, the Tahe Multisport, out for a little paddle this afternoon and rather liked it. Very stable design, 17'2 X 20.5" with a Smart Track Rudder system (the ONLY rudder system I like at all for sea kayaks), it is a lively and fun design from Johan Wirsen, lead designer for Tahe Marine.

   I still need to make a few adjustments to the rudder pedals themselves to get them in the position I like (raising the entire system another inch or so and trimming the setting on the pivoting upper pedals (These have solid foot braces in addition to an upper gas pedal style of pedal, SO MUCH better than the outdated push/ pull systems still used by some brands out there).

   Here is a review from Outside Magazine, posted on the Tahe website:

   22.04.2009 Outside Magazine visited Johan Wirsén and tested Multisport

I took a short trip to Borgholm this weekend for my first paddle of the year. The highlight of my trip was a test paddling of the new Tahe Multisport. I was also able to meet with Johan Wirsén, the designer of the Multisport, and see his recently launched winter project; the sailing boat in the picture. It was our first spring like weather of the season, with calm winds, and a sunny 12-13 degrees C (54-55 degrees F).

The Tahe Multisport is one of Tahe´s new models for this year and it is thought of as an exercise kayak rather than a touring kayak. It is 520 cm long, 52 cm wide like a classic racer. The Multisport features a fairly spacious cockpit which allows for serious leg work, and it has a generous storage space in the rear. The weight in carbon is about 16-17 kg (35-37 lbs), which is a little heavy for a racer but light compared with most sea kayaks.

With its straight bow and painted stripes, the Multisport looks very sporty; as indeed it is. The seat is a permanently fixed and cannot be adjusted. The SmartTrack rudder is of a keeper type, and I found it worked well, especially once I discovered that I can keep my feet in the middle without the pedals getting caught. My first impression was that the kayak felt a little unstable, but it gets more stable as you lean more. My next impression was that you can actually paddle properly. The bow is low, slim, and cut out so you can dip the paddle in the right place.

When I added pressure to the paddle, the Multisport responded well. In many sea kayaks it feels like somebody threw in a grapnel as soon as you try to speed up past a certain limit. But with the Multisport it actually felt as though my own capability set the limit.

   Myself, I found it to be a very stable and predictable kayak, certainly a lot of fun to paddle 

   Among some other kayaks that arrived yesterday was another Tahe Greenland, a couple more Gulfspirits, one OceanSpirit, the Seaspirit, a Wind Solo and a carbon fiber Reval Mini that I'm dying to paddle next time there are some decent waves on Lake Superior.

   Another new project keeping me busy, in addition to going non stop filling orders for my custom built Greenland Paddles, is the new Transitional Stick, or "T-Stick" for short, a project first suggested to me during a phone call from 2008 triple gold medalist from the Greenland Kayak Championships Helen Wilson. 

   Speaking of Helen, we are bringing her in at the end of July for a two day Greenland Paddling Weekend of Rolling Instruction, an intro to Rope Gymnastics and a Slideshow. During her rolling clinics, I will also be giving a basic strokes clinic using Greenland Paddles.

   Shown below between the two halves of a custom two-piece Greenland Paddle (the one Helen is using this July in Greenland).

   Helen called me with her idea for the project and a rough description of what she had in mind. I then thought about it and drew one out, cut the wood strips, laminated it, shaped it, oiled it up with Tung Oil and shipped the first one off to her. You can see it in the new issue of Sea Kayaker Magazine in an article from Helen on rolling.

   These are now available for sale and the orders have been coming in steady ever since the magazine hit the shelves recently.

   All in all, it has been an extremely busy year here with paddle sales already surpassing my goal for the entire year! Some new products coming up will include SUP paddles (Standup Paddleboard paddles), maybe some SUPs and we are also bringing in some high end carbon fiber wing paddles (just for fun).

   Check back soon, more updates shortly. The Blog has been neglected these last few months as I've struggled to try and keep up with orders for my paddles. Busy times lately but I love it!

Cheers...Joe O'