Starboard’s 2025 Velocity vs. Lima: Cameron Tripney’s Paddle Breakdown

We’ve heard it time and again – if you’re going to invest in any piece of SUP gear, make it your paddle. While it continues to spark debate, many athletes agree that it’s the combination of paddle choice and technique that wins world titles.

Often underrated in recreational paddling, the paddle has proven to be a game-changer at the pro level – breaking records, securing podiums and shaping champions.

Cameron Tripney, the ICF World SUP Junior Sprint Champion, Cape Town native, and Starboard Dream Team Rider, has walked us through the all-new 2025 Starboard Lima paddle – a staple and trusted choice among SUP world champs – and also shared his insight on the latest addition to Starboard’s innovative paddle line-up, the Velocity, developed to maximize performance in distance and endurance racing.

Photo by Unframed by Alex

Hi Cameron, aspiring paddlers look to pro athletes when it comes to choosing gear. In your experience, how much of a difference does the right paddle make, and what advice would you give to those trying to find their perfect setup?

Finding the right paddle is almost just as important as finding the right board in my opinion. We all have different strengths, weaknesses and injuries which can massively affect the way we respond to a paddle height, shaft stiffness and blade size. The first and most important step is to have the paddle at the right height. For me it has always been the longer the distance the longer the paddle. Over a distance race you want more reach and to save more energy by longer and more efficient strokes to save more energy over the duration of the race.

For sprints you want something that’s short enough to rapidly increase stroke rate and allow maximum power as you leverage your bottom arm closer to the water. Usually for short distances you want a bigger blade to increase the power, but not too big to the point where you are fatiguing too early on while paddling. This is usually dependant on your strength and technique, start with a smaller blade first and gradually increase over time if you feel that you are lacking power in important situations, like hitting a hard interval to get past someone.

Can you break down the key differences between the Velocity and Lima paddles in terms of performance and feel on the water?

The Lima is an extremely powerful paddle especially the Large and XL models. These paddles are great for sprints and technical races, and will always be my go to when it comes to racing. Due to its wide, square bottom base and single concave design, it gives the paddle instant power and an aggressive catch early on in the stroke. This is extremely important for sprints and hitting hard intervals around buoy turns in a technical race.

Starboard Lima Paddle 2025

The Velocity is a very different paddle, but a paddle that is extremely competitive. The Velocity is an incredible paddle for those longer distances, due to its double concave design, high aspect shape, and increased blade angle. This allows the paddle to be a lot more stroke efficient and easier on the body, allowing you to get more strokes in with less muscle fatigue. What surprised me with this paddle is that is actually gave me a lot of power, with its clean catch and design it gave me the confidence to use this in my longer paddles, with my muscles feeling consistently strong throughout the time spent on the water. It’s honestly one of the best paddles I have used in a very long time and I would love to further experiment with it in shower distances too.

Starboard Velocity Paddle 2025

What type of paddler would benefit the most from the Velocity paddle, and who would be better suited to the Lima?

The Velocity paddle would suit lighter paddlers or those who lack the strength over longer distances, and feel as if they fatigue early on in the race and want to reserve more towards the end.

The Lima suits those who rely more on their power over stroke rate, this is usually better for bigger and stronger paddlers.

Starboard Lima Paddle 2025

How does blade shape influence stroke efficiency and endurance over long distances?

The bottom of the blade is more rounded and drawn out, this gives the paddle a more even distribution of power instead of that instant aggressive catch which easily puts fatigue on the body. This will help to pull the blade through the water faster allowing a higher stroke rate and efficiency.

For competitive racers who switch between sprint and distance events, is there an advantage to using both paddles in different race formats?

Yes, there’s 100% a big advantage. You could switch to a Velocity for a long distance and even a technical race, and switch to a bigger and more powerful blade like the Lima for sprints. This can allow your body to recover better between heats and depending on the race schedule.

Muscle fatigue is a major concern for long-distance paddlers. How does the Velocity help in reducing fatigue compared to the Lima?

It helps reduce the fatigue in the lats when pulling the paddle through the water, which for me is one of the main muscles which takes the most strain depending on the blade power.

In what race conditions would you recommend the Lima over the Velocity, and vice versa?

I would recommend it in glassy conditions where it is easier to get more strokes in. As well as shorter races like sprint and technical. The Velocity will work great in choppy waters and head winds where it is harder to keep up a higher and more efficient stroke rate.

Starboard Lima Paddle 2025

What’s the biggest takeaway from your personal experience?

The Velocity is a very easy paddle to use and the body loves it too. In summary it’s the perfect paddle for long distance and to improve stroke rate with less fatigue on the muscles.

Starboard Velocity Paddle 2025

Does paddle shaft stiffness play a role in complementing the differences between the Velocity and Lima?

Yes, I believe since the Velocity is easy on the body you can use a very stiff shaft to make sure you don’t lose out on too much power. A stiffer shaft on the velocity will feel easier than a stiffer shaft on a Lima, if you go too soft on a shaft you will lose out on power.

Where on the race circuit can we expect to see you competing this year? Any key events you’re especially stoked about?

For the moment I have no plans to do any other races besides ICF World Champs in Abu Dhabi this year. I might be able to do some other races over in Europe this year, just waiting on some potential sponsors to help assist with my travels this year. I am still training hard and hope to chase World titles, lets trust the process.

Photo by Cameron Green

Thank you for your insights Cameron and we can’t wait to see you and the Tripney squad on the race circuit!

Find out more about Starboard 2025 range at sup.star-board.com

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*Images courtesy of Cameron Tripney and Starboard