This is an advertorial for VE Paddles, by Palm Equipment
Words: Palm Equipment
Photos: Palm Equipment & Stu Morris
The VE Paddles story
Stu Morris
As a teenager, Stuart Morris made slalom boats and competed internationally in canoe freestyle. He went on to study composite engineering to PhD level and spent years working with elite paddlers and aerospace composites. In 2008, he installed a press in his garden shed and founded Vertical Element (VE) Paddles.
Aircore is a key technology for VE – reducing weight, maintaining stiffness and improving strength; it has become a hallmark of the VE paddles range, along with the use of prepreg composites.
The VE following grew, but personal circumstances led Stu to close the doors in 2018, and he sought Palm as a buyer. After over 20 years since composite slalom kayaks and surf skis were last made at Palm, composite manufacturing has come back – although this time, a little more advanced.
VE Paddles are available online and through Palm stockists. Follow them @VEpaddles.
How a paddle comes to life – with VE Paddles
Meet prepreg
It sounds like a character from Harry Potter, doesn’t it? But in the world of composites, prepreg is fabric pre-impregnated with resin which cures around the fibres, forming solid shapes – in this case, paddle blades.
Prepreg differs from other composite manufacturing methods because the resin is already in the fabric. This means you get all the strength with no extra resin and, therefore, no extra weight. Unlike traditional ‘wet lay-up’ methods, it is more accurate and cleaner to work with, reducing the quantity of material and harmful chemicals used.
It’s not quite Ikea
Prepreg paddles are made like a 3D jigsaw, from plys of prepreg cut using a computer-controlled cutter to exact sizes. These are laid up in one half of the mould tool and arranged in different directions and thicknesses to achieve strength in the right places and the correct direction.
It’s commonplace in composites to use a non-woven layer of ‘chopped strand mat’ to save cost when more thickness is needed. VE does not use this in any of its blades, instead optimising each lay-up to give the best strength-to-weight ratio possible; it’s why prepreg paddles are so light yet strong.
Bake off
With hot press moulding (or compression moulding), the two halves of an aluminium mould are heated to cure the resin. A hydraulic ram compresses them together, squeezing the resin between the fibres to fuse the prepreg ply together. VE blades are pressed with three tonnes of pressure, precisely controlled, so all the fibres and resin are compressed to exactly the same shape every time. Precise control of the pressure and cure gives a robust and durable finish with no need for lacquers, saving weight and reducing the use of harmful chemicals.
A blank page
Once moulded, each blade, or blank, is identical. The rake and dihedral (the curve and spoon of a paddle) are ‘baked’ in as a VE characteristic, but after that, the outline shape is programmed into the CNC cutter. The outline shape determines the paddle style for freestyle, creeking, racing, long calm days or coastal rock-hopping.
What a feeling
A paddle’s performance comes primarily from the blade shape and its construction, but the feel in the water is also affected by the flex in the paddle.
A glass paddle shaft and blade will generally flex a little more than a carbon shaft and blade, easing the load put on your joints as you pull on the paddle, which many find less fatiguing and better for distance paddling. Explosive paddling, like freestyle, slalom or surf, warrants a stiffer paddle, so some prefer a carbon blade and carbon shaft, minimising flex, so power is transferred immediately and directly. Glass and carbon paddles are made to the same strength, but since carbon is stronger, less material is needed to make it strong, so a carbon paddle will be lighter.
The choice between a conventional straight shaft and a crank shaft will also affect the feel of the paddle. Some prefer the offset angle of the wrists provided by a crank shaft – so that your wrists have less bend as you grip the paddle shaft. VE cranked shafts are made with a consistent grip width regardless of paddle length, so your grip position will be the same with your longer creaking paddle and your short freestyle paddle. Others are more comfortable with a straight shaft that allows you to shift your grip position as you paddle.
Dance to your own drum
There is no wrong answer to the question, ‘what paddles are right for you?’ There is no wrong feather (blade angle) or paddle length. With VE, you can have any feather you like, although most will choose popular options. Your size and style of paddling are unique, and your paddles can reflect that, for example; a 191 cm zero-degree would be excellent for playboating; creekers tend to go closer to 200 cm; and touring paddlers benefit significantly from adjustable two-piece paddles (anywhere from 210 to 230 cm), with the option to adjust blade angle to relieve repetitive strain.
