RE: [Paddlewise] Forward Stroke and Weathercocking

Thanks for your reply. I asked the question as I was wondering as to your
experience in using an improved forward stroke to correct weatherhelm,
without rudders, skegs, or sliding seats.
I took the rudder off my boat for a 6 month period and attempted to learn
better stroke style. At one time, I was paddling just outside a surf break
zone with an increasing offshore wind, later reported to be 28 knots. It
felt strong, and was coming from beam on. I was staying as far inshore as
possible to get as much shelter from the land as possible, which meant that
the occasional larger set of swells was peaking about where I was. I was
edging the boat into the wind, towards the shore, to correct weathercocking.
A larger swell arrived, I kept edging, the boat leaned over downwave, and
over I went, capsized. I blew a roll, wet exited, and re-entered and rolled.
The wind continued to increase, and I turned around and went back.
No doubt different boats are better in different conditions, but I have
re-installed the rudder, and find paddling easier with it. The effort put
into the forward stroke is straight ahead, and less effort is wasted keeping
the boat pointed in the right direction. It's probably good to be able to do
without a rudder, but energy efficient to use it for the long haul.
The best round up of stroke variations to correct weathercocking I have
found is on the Mariner website: http://www.marinerkayaks.com (thanks Matt).
But even using every trick on this site, energy is still going into course
correction, at the expense of forward motion.
Paddling and learning...
Peter Treby
37* 42' S 145* 08' E



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