On Fri, 27 Mar 1998, Kirk Olsen wrote: >> >>On Thu, 26 Mar 1998, Geo. Bergeron wrote: >> >>> Now that the subject's been raised, who uses rudders and who leans >>> the boat? >> >>I used to be deadset against rudders. I still think a sea kayaker should >>first learn to control the boat without a rudder, so that if and when >>the rudder breaks they can get out of whatever trouble they may be in. agreed ... >> >>If a skilled paddler decides they want a rudder I'm all for it. The example >>that changed my mind was the guy that paddled around Australia. He >>said compensating for a crosswind for the entire day wasn't worth it, >>when he could simply add a rudder and paddle with a balanced stroke. and that i can relate to. my favorite lake to paddle around is quite open, i like to play in the waves, but, when i have to quarter them, it's one heck of a work out, and more than difficult. here would be the perfect time for a rudder!! >> >>I now have a boat with a rudder, it's 19'6" (just under 6m) with a >>17.25" (43.8cm) beam. It's brutal to turn. Leaning doesn't help all >>that much. The rocker created by leaning the boat isn't that significant, >>it's also tippy and leaning it can get exciting. >> >>The major problem I have with most of the rudder equiped boats, in the US, >>is that the rudder controls double as foot pedals. I've neaver heard a >>good justification for not selling a boat where the foot pegs are fixed >>and the rudder is controlled by the forefoot. Maybe enough customers haven't >>complained. >> >>kirk i started to say, "well my boat's foot pegs are solid, with a 'toe control'" (the forefoot control you were probably referring to!) [don't know what else to call it ;-] and then i said "duh" my boat's german ;-) i think i'm going to try a rudder this next summer, one one boat, and tell you how i like it!! mark #------canoeist[at]netbox[dot]com-------------------------------------- mark zen o, o__ o_/| o_. po box 474 </ [\/ [\_| [\_\ ft. lupton, co 80621-0474 (`-/-------/----') (`----|-------\-') #~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~ http://www.diac.com/~zen/cpr [Colorado Paddlers' Resource] http://www.diac.com/~zen/rmskc [Rocky Mtn Sea Kayak Club] http://www.diac.com/~zen/rmcc [Rocky Mtn Canoe Club Trip Page] http://www.diac.com/~zen/mark [personal] -- Fortune: The goal of science is to build better mousetraps. The goal of nature is to build better mice. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Mar 27 1998 - 16:31:01 PST
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