Re: [Paddlewise] Skegs my last Posting on this subject

Tomckayak_at_aol.com wrote:

> ... The principal of moving weight forward or back to trim the
> handling of a kayak is probably as old as the kayak. 
...<snip>...
> This will be my last Posting on this subject, others can have 
> the last word.

Well, here are my last words (for the time being): 

I agree with you.  Moving weight around to alter the handling of a boat
is a very old technique, and it can be *very* effective.  Much of the
"need" for rudders or drop-down skegs is the result of people either not
really understanding the effects of trim on performance, or not wanting
to have to deal with the issue.  

An example involves a recent day paddle that I took with a friend who
was paddling a Solstice GTHV.  Properly loaded, this boat has very
neutral handling and does not "need" a rudder, but on this day, in the
conditions we encountered, his boat suffered from severe weather helm. 
The reason?  He stuck all of his gear in the bow compartment.  This
being a day trip, he did not have a lot of gear.  Even so, placing all
of this gear in the bow compartment changed the trim to the point where
he had two choices (short of repacking): expend a lot of energy on
corrective strokes, or drop his rudder.  He did the latter, as this was
less inefficient than making constant corrective strokes.  I was
paddling a rudderless, skegless boat, which was loaded so as to be about
as neutral as is possible in any kayak, and thus did not "need" a rudder
or skeg.  

Admittedly, in highly changeable conditions, an advantage of rudders or
drop-down skegs is that they can be "fine-tuned".  But this fine-tuning
does not gain one very much (and comes at a cost).  The primary gains
from using a rudder or drop-down skeg arise in those circumstances where
the trim of the boat is seriously off, necessitating not "fine"-tuning,
but rather "coarse"-tuning to eliminate the need for constant corrective
strokes. 

Dan Hagen
Bellingham, Washington
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