Anyone tried using double paddles for both paddlers in a tandem?

Yep once in a race off Portland ME. It was pretty funny looking. Since then we have gotten much better at hit and switch. The latter is just as fast or faster and much less tiring.

Holding up a double blade really does take energy. Part of the single blade stroke takes advantage of the buoyancy of water and you do not have to constantly hold the shaft and fight gravity.

I met one tandem a couple of years ago where the guide was using a double and the client a single, but haven't seen two doubles except, of course, in a tandem kayak.

Not sure about the front, but have had great success with double paddle in the rear. Not sure about the weight issue but would imagine a wooden double could be heavy. Some of the costlier miracle material paddles weigh next to nothing. The right paddle for each person is a matter of fit and application. I use a slightly longer and larger blade when in the back of the canoe, but shorter and smaller blade in my kayak. I find the biggest advantage is in the bilateral movement rather than one side at a time. I paddled slower to time my strokes with the fore single paddler so felt like I was hardly working in normal travel.

I'd guess it'd be like anything else. You get two hard core seasoned 2 blade paddlers, they could probably make it throw a wake. The thing about a canoe is it's a non-planing hull, there's a point of diminishing return that occurs pretty quickly. I'm gonna cut this off before my friends start making fun of me, they know who they are....;-)

I'm wondering about steering. If you're timing your stroke to the bowman, I guess you would just stroke harder on one side to affect a correction. Either that, or you'd have to communicate with the bowman, moreso in heavier conditions.

quote Beaverjack: "I'm wondering about steering. If you're timing your stroke to the bowman, I guess you would just stroke harder on one side to affect a correction. Either that, or you'd have to communicate with the bowman, moreso in heavier conditions."

You should communicate with the bowperson no matter what you are using for a paddle. Bowperson sets cadence. The stern has to communicate that the bowperson is going too fast or not fast enough. Bowperson has control over the bow of the canoe, stern skids the rear.

There does not need to be correction for a symmetrical paddling position unless in cross winds or current.The cure is not more power but a longer lever arm. You move your hands so one side is longer than the other.

Canoeists have a lot to learn from kayakers. The double blade is not as easy to master well as you might think. (My double blades all come in at about 27-30 oz)