Wing paddle
From KayakWiki
The wing paddle has a blade which is airfoil shaped. The forward stroke is very vertical with the lower hand moving out to the side. These paddles are designed for very efficient racing and are optimized for going straight and fast. They are not that good for bracing.
Wing paddles occupy the extreme high-end of Euro paddles. They were created by flatwater racers for racing. Today, all serious flatwater racers use wing paddles.
Like any other Euro paddle, there is a shaft with distinct blades. The blades, however, are bizarre.
The wing paddle blades have large areas to maximize the forces they exert on the water. They are spoon-shaped and have an airfoil profile. During the stroke, the paddle moves away from the boat and hydrodynamic lift builds in the forward direction to increase the efficiency of the stroke.
If you look more closely at a wing paddle, you'll see that the blades usually have a slight twist and are bent up away from the shaft. The twist gives the paddle a tendency to push out away from the boat during the stroke. It may also contribute to a better angle of attack as the twist accomodates the increase in blade velocity relative to the water outboard. The bend gives the stroke a more powerful catch.
For high speed cruising and awesome power on a forward stroke, the wing paddle is without peer. They are not general-purpose paddles, however, since you can't do all strokes with a wing paddle. They are great for forward strokes, rolling, reverse strokes, low braces, sweep strokes and rudder strokes. Sculling strokes range from difficult to impossible and you can forget about most high braces or any form of draw stroke.
Wing paddles are not for everyone. If you are a fit paddler who likes high speed cruising, you might want to give one a try. In a fast boat, you'll leave everyone else far behind when you use a wing paddle. Once you get used to a wing paddle, other paddles feel mush and sloppy.
There are significant downsides to the wing paddle.
The wing paddle is unforgiving. If you are sloppy with your strokes, the paddle will act very strangely. Its not unusual for novice wing paddlers to have the paddle rip out of their hands during a sloppy forward stroke. This may not be considered a downside though, as it teaches novice paddlers the proper technique.
Rolling is great, but if you have the angle wrong on the setup, the roll will fail miserably. Also, wing paddle strokes are aggressive and may be tiring for a long day of paddling. Finally, wing paddles are not used by many people, so they tend to be very expensive, specialty paddles.
Even with all these downsides, I know many paddlers (myself included) who obtained wing paddles for racing but over time made the wing their paddle of choice general sea kayaking as well. Its hard to go back to "wimpy" normal paddles once you get used to the power from a wing.
