Well, after listening to the feedback on the previous post, I have gone back to the drawing board. Here's another concept for dealing with headwinds...

A typical outing here on Kootenay Lake involves a drastic change in wind speed and direction, thus my fixation on headwinds. For a variety of reasons I prefer the kneeling position to the prone position (no need to get wet, comfort, endurance, paddle efficiency...) when in headwinds, yet one of the problems with kneeling has been that when you lower your hand position on the paddle the top hand has virtually no control since there is no handle. The wrist and forearm are also put in an uncomfortable position. No telescoping paddle adjusts enough, not to mention that telescoping paddles are heavy, more fragile, and slow to adjust - ruling telecoping paddles out for this application. So why not just have another handle - an adjustable lightweight handle that stays out of the way for upright paddling, yet is exactly where you need it for paddling in a kneeling position.

Getting off our stomachs and on our knees (when in headwinds or dicey situations) increases comfort and endurance immeasureably.