The blade
The Fara is the largest of VE's touring blades at 650 cm², and is built for a higher angle stroke. The connection with the water is clean and there is real power there when you want it, whether that is punching into a headwind, holding a line across a tide race or getting a loaded boat up to speed.
If most of your paddling involves wind, tide and the odd bit of rough water rather than long flat crossings, this is the one to look at first.
Glass or Aircore carbon
Aircore is VE's carbon blade construction. On a touring paddle the weight saving adds up over thousands of strokes in a day, and the extra stiffness keeps the feel direct. Glass weighs a little more, has slightly more give and costs less. Both are built to the same standard and both last.
Straight or bent shaft
A straight shaft suits most paddlers. A bent shaft puts a bend where your hands sit so the wrist stays in a more neutral position, which helps anyone with existing wrist, elbow or shoulder trouble and which a lot of people find more comfortable over a long day. It is down to personal preference rather than one being better than the other.
Every VE touring paddle is a two piece split. That makes it far easier to transport and lets you change length and feather on the water, which is useful when the wind turns or you swap between a low and a high angle stroke.
The other VE touring blades
The Skera at 615 cm² is the most adaptable of the three and works at either angle. The Vanda is long, narrow and firmly low angle, built for covering ground.
