Ralph wrote; (SNIP) >You also may want to look into what is termed a "balanced" rudder. >However, its primary use is in sailing kayaks, so I have no idea how >well it will work for a paddled kayak. Basically it is one in which 20% >of the blade is forward of the pivot point of the rudder. On most >rudders the pivot is at the lead edge of the blade so that zero percent >is forward of this. The balanced rudder swings out differently when >being used and seems to need less radical thrusting sideways to achieve >the same amount of turn. > (SNIP) I know of no reason why balancing a rudder would reduce stall. Balancing the rudder reduces the torque on the rudder assembly and consequently the load on the system hardware. If it appears the rudder functions better that way one might look for some other reason. For instance, changing the underwater shape may have altered the hydrodynamic sweep of the blade. This could also be achieved with an unbalanced rudder. For a sailing boat the balanced rudder might be more important because the boat will make greater leeway and the rudder loading will be higher although given the small rigs of sailing kayaks it still does not appear to me as a big deal. Sailing dinghies like the Flying Dutchman, 505, Finn etc use conventional rudders with no balance without problems so I would wonder why a sailing kayak might need one. Cheers, John Winters Redwing Designs Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft http://home.ican.net/~735769/ *************************************************************************** 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 Mon Nov 16 1998 - 10:03:06 PST
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