[Paddlewise] Paul Caffyn n' Rudders

Gerald Foodman wrote:

> >>>I would be most interested in your impressions of the Mariner II,
> in big
> water, especially compared to your own Nordkapp.>>>

We don't get many Mariners up here, unless they are owned by Americans
coming up to the west coast to paddle. The price for a Mariner these
days for a Canadian to buy one, with the exchange, is very expensive. I
have paddled with a fellow who had an original Mariner, which is a bit
different than the Mariner II or the Max. It was a lovely boat in open
water. Where the problem lay was in situations like whilst paddling down
a long inlet with rear quartering wind but no real wave action to shadow
behind. He got sick and tired of the adjustable seat thing, and
eventually put a rudder on the darn boat -- a sacrilege perhaps, but you
do what ya gotta do. (BTW, the Max can  be harder to get into for tall
guys as the deck doesn't sweep up as much, but memory fails me here a
bit).

>
>
> >>>Did you notice that Paul Caffyn mentioned in his article that the
> rudder
> added stability?  I find the opposite to be true in my Solstice GTS.
> In big
> or turbulent water I feel much more confident and in control by
> raising the
> rudder.  The rudder seems to me mainly an energy saving device for
> moderate
> conditions, when it saves a tremendous amount of energy over a long
> haul.
> Of course my big water is not your big water.>>>
>

"Big water" is a relative statement, as indicated. The factors I most
closely regard are wave period and the steepness of swell and wind
waves. Under certain conditions, a rudder can go way beyond an energy
saver in terms of stroke efficiency, and simply add a new dynamic of
incredible speed as one surfs every available opportunity with demon
like ferocity. I've paddled with some fairly good paddlers in skegged
and non-skegged kayaks under open water, near gale following sea
conditions, and they couldn't even come close to keeping up with me,
when my deep draft rudder was deployed. In moderate conditions, you are
right, that is where I normally associate my rudder with being a "mainly
energy saving" device, and so to with skegs.

The only thing that gives real noticeable extra stability is a
dagger-board amidships. A fin that descends 18"  or so below the hull,
just behind the cockpit, adds incredible stability -- but also picks up
kelp and hits rocks, not to mention the gymnastics to retract and deploy
it. If a rudder adds stability, I've never really noticed it in terms of
a lee board or deep draft keel effect, but like Paul is always wishing,
anything that helps add stability to a Nordkapp is welcomed, even if the
discernibility is somewhat subjective. If anything though, I find a
rudder creates some problems in turbulent seas, as it tends to get
jostled around. On my older tiller-rudder foot control, I used to keep
the ctr nut really tight, so that the rudder would stay in position
longer, and I'd have to push really hard to change direction, etc, or
conversly, a tight tiller would help hold  a course more to true. When I
modified my VCP rudder and added the Seward "gas pedal" controls, I also
tightened up all the tolerances on the stock rudder. There is very
little play in the actual rudder now.  I hate to say it, but the CD
rudder isn't a heavy seas contender, but it does very well at what it
was designed for. A skeg is the best way to go for all around
performance, but I will keep my rudder so I can still outrun the devil
when I need to -- or just stay out in front of him, just enough to tease
him silly. Remember, I will often head out into Juan de Fuca Strait,
looking for squall  lines and micro-bursts that spill in from the open
Pacific, to run back in to shore with. You don't go and do that with
stock equipment, nor do the _real_ experts like Paul C. take on big
coasts with ineffectual trim devices.

BC'in Ya
Doug Lloyd

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