CWTA - Canoe Basics - Paddling In Wind



Connecticut Water Trails Association

Heading a canoe straight into the wind makes your life more difficult. It's like walking a tightrope with the wind forces requiring you to balance between left and right. This constant balancing and correction will wear you out unnecessarily. Instead of paddling straight into the wind, if you are on open water and going a distance, angle against the wind slightly. Make the wind work for you. If you use the wind to lay up at a slight angle against the canoe the stern guy, won't have to use as much of a J stroke. In fact, the stern guy could paddle with powerful straight-ahead strokes on the right side of the canoe which makes a normal canoe with a wind from the left bow side, try to turn into the wind. If you match the wind strength, no J stroke is needed and you'll paddle in a straight line, slipping against the wind.

If you exceed the wind's strength, you will turn into the wind. If the wind is too strong, you will lose ground as the wind pushes you to the right and then completely broadside. At some point, you will need to change the canoe and your paddling sides to aim the canoe to the other way as you run out of water with the shore approaching. Just reverse the paddle positions and do the same wind-slipping thing. More or less, you are "tacking" which is how a sailboat sails into the wind. It's a big, controlled, zigzag pattern down the lake.

Notice the green bars: They indicate the position of the paddler as it is pulled by you through the water.


Paddling straight in wind Avoid paddling straight into the wind whenever possible. It's like walking on a tightrope. Now sometimes, you can't avoid paddling headlong into the wind especially if you are in a really narrow bay, so common sense must apply.	Do this: Instead of going straight into the wind, use the wind to your advantage. Stern paddler paddles straight ahead and matches the strength of the wind that lays up against the other side of the canoe. The stern paddler doesn't (or may not) need a J stroke to hold a straight line depending on the strength of the wind. Bow paddler on the opposite side of stern paddler, paddles straight ahead as well. When you get close to the shore on the right side, switch canoes sides and paddling positions and "tack" with the wind on your right side. Just reverse your positions.	To turn into the wind: If the wind is stronger, tell the bow paddler to switch to the non-wind side. Stern paddler then switches to the wind side and employs a J stroke with enough forward power and rudder (the "J" part) to match what is needed to turn the bow into the wind. The stern paddler uses the bow paddler as a "front sight" to see how much "j" is needed in each stroke to make the canoe either hold against the wind or turn into the wind. By having the bow paddler on the non-wind, right side (in the diagram above), a normal canoe's natural tendency is to turn to the left. Add a stern paddler who is forcing the stern of the canoe to the right with the J stroke (in the diagram) and the canoe turns into the wind if the stroke is a hard J. You are seeing kind of a lazy "J" above which means the canoe will not turn too hard. You determine how hard the canoe needs to turn from the stern, so watching your paddle will tell you nothing. Watch the bow paddler and the shoreline to measure your effect on the canoe.

Paddling Positions for turning into a strong wind
If the wind is blowing hard on one side and you want to turn into the wind, have your bow paddler move to the non-wind side of the canoe and paddle straight ahead just as you see the little green paddle stroke postions above. This automatically puts canoe pressure against the wind because the canoe wants to turn opposite of the bow paddler's stroke. The stern paddler moves to the same side of the wind and uses a hard "J" stroke as indicated by green at the stern of the canoe. This "power-forward-then-fluid-rudder" J stroke pushes the back of the canoe to the opposite direction which forces the front of the canoe into the wind. Teamed up with the bow paddler naturally forcing the bow into the wind, you can efficiently make the canoe turn under your control without losing a lot of speed. If the wind is ridiculously strong do the next maneuver you'll see below.

This maneuver will work for repositioning a canoe. A normal canoe can be turned into a stiff wind with ease doing this maneuver.

Basically, the bow paddler draws to the right and the stern paddler draws to the left (or vice versa).

Follow the little green bars to see the paddle position of the complete stroke as it is pulled through the water.

You pull the flat blade to you and turn the paddle and push back. This drags the canoe in the direction you want to go for the first part of the stroke and follows up with the power part of the stroke to propel you forward. It's important to remember that propelling forward in a stiff wind keeps you from losing ground.

If you stop going forward to just turn the canoe, you MAY lose a LOT of already-paddled ground. So, draw to yourself, turn the paddle and then continue to push yourself (and the attached canoe) forward; in one fluid stroke.

Practice the draw stroke. It's easy and effective on both ends of the canoe. Your bow paddler, (regardless of gender) should know how to use a draw stroke.

You call to them is to " DRAW LEFT" or DRAW RGHT" when YOU need it. When not using a draw stroke, the bow paddler just paddles forward normally.

The person in the stern is responsible for ALL steering of the canoe ALL the time.

Repeat after me: The stern paddler is in charge of the directional control of the canoe, period.