ursblank said..
Does it make sense to use a paddle with reduced shaft diameter so I can use it in winter with thick gloves? From windsurfing I know that with gloves it gets difficult to hold the boom. I'm wondering whether this is also a problem with paddles.
In my student days I was landlocked and windsurfed in winter in Paris on lakes, in the cold (the water temp was 4C). Not by choice, it was the sport option I chose, so I was forced to go on the water :-)
I had gloves with all the underside open, with only a thin loose net, and it worked wonderfully. It seems that just shielding the top of the fingers from the wind is sufficient to avoid the dreadful "nail ache" ("onglee in French), even if the fingers get drenched in 4C water from time to time. And the grip on the wishbone was just like without gloves. But I do not seem to find them anymore. I see only Open palm mittens like:
https://www.watersportswarehouse.co.uk/yak-open-palm-mitts-neoprene-1079091.htmlOtherwise, I have read advice to use pre-formed gloves: gloves that are pre-shaped as a closed fist, as gripping the boom for hours is thus easier.
Note that I found that cold is more bearable without gloves while paddling rather than windsurfing. Once I was windsurfing at dawn with 0C air (but 12C water), and my fingers were aching acutely, and felt like wooden sticks. But as the wind was not very string (15 knots), I switched to SUPing instead, and my fingers went back to normal. I guess the constant movements of the hands helps to keep warm, as opposed to the locked position in Windsurfing.
): Does it make sense to use a paddle with reduced shaft diameter so I can use it in winter with thick gloves? From windsurfing I know that with gloves it gets difficult to hold the boom. I'm wondering whether this is also a problem with paddles.
