Oscar Propulsion Slitted Blade Paddle
I was handed this slitted-blade paddle a month ago. I immediately used it for the @planetpatrol #RaceForRivers event on the River Wey, Godalming and beyond for two straight days – from the first stroke, the words that came to my mind were, “It feels easy”, but this just seemed too simple a phrase for something that has been five years in the making, with a tremendous amount of R&D and investment by the Team at Oscar Propulsion. If you are a techy geek and love some stats, I am sure CEO Duncan Troy can provide you with those. Still, I am all about the feel of something. Does it ‘feel’ right, make any difference to my paddling, and how do I feel afterwards?
From the first catch, it feels different; there is a fizz as the blade cuts through the water and the ‘lock’ is stable. The power phase is super stable, and there is no fluttering. Usually, when I try out a new paddle, there is a certain amount of ‘settling in’ until I get used to the different sizes and shapes of the blade, but here, and I go back to those words, it feels easy to use.
There is absolutely no loss of performance with this paddle if you compare it to others, and the power is there – I handed it to my husband, who had not been on a board for at least 18 months due to a neck injury. He is rehabilitating currently but felt able to join me for a paddle – he just loved the ease of this paddle, certainly felt no after-affects from an 8km trip and loved everything about it from the catch and power to the immediate glide of the board with just one stroke. We swapped paddles around, but he insisted on having the Oscar back as his favoured paddle!
Back to my own experience of the paddle – I think it will come into its own for endurance paddling or multi-day trips due to it creating less of a strain on your shoulders, neck and forearms with absolutely no loss of stability, comfort or performance – if you are rehabilitating from injury then it could help you out too.
The paddle is slightly heavier than my normal one due to the adjustable handle, but it would be even better with a one-piece shaft. If you need speed and power, it’s got that too – my husband and I did some simple tests paddling against each other – I certainly came out faster with the Oscar paddle, and I can see we will be squabbling over who uses it!
I chatted with Lizzie Carr from Planet Patrol, who also used this paddle for the #RaceForRivers event and paddled over 100km. She suffers from a golfer’s elbow and was concerned about doing this distance over a relatively short period. However, she said she experienced no flare-ups with her elbow and felt almost an immediate difference after using the paddle. Typically, Lizzie would experience pain after about 5km when paddling due to the golfer’s elbow, but the paddle was so smooth in the water and didn’t flutter, which helped her situation.
The few people I have passed the paddle to on the water have all confirmed how easy it is to use – they are very intrigued with the design, which then transfers into a positive experience on the water. This paddle is no ‘gimmick’ – hours and hours of development and tests have gone into this SUP paddle and those for rowing, kayaking and dragon boating.
I can’t wait to use it more and would love to see how it performs for sprinting and whether it makes any marginal gains for competitive paddlers in the 5-10km range. I also think this could be the perfect upgrade for a beginner to get to grips with the correct way to paddle, i.e., an easy catch and no fluttering.
The business model for this paddle is to eventually license the technology to all the brands to incorporate in their products, but if you would like to be one of the first to own one, check this out: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/game-changing-sup-paddle#/
If you want to try the paddle and are anywhere near Hampshire in the UK or events next year, don’t hesitate to contact me through social media. You can also try the paddle in London and South Devon.
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