Larry Bliven" <foxhill_at_shore.intercom.net> wrote: << ... it has a rudder... but the interesting thing to me is that the rudder controls are by ones toes, over solid pegs for the balls of your feet. this set up seems to be very user friendly and it eliminated one of my pet problems with rudder controls, spongy foot rests. My questions are: is this control assembly available for kayaks? if so, which ones. and if not, why not? ... bye bye bliven >> (Folding kayak maker) Pouch uses pedestal mounted foot plates on a central track, which have gas pedal type rudder controls actuated by the balls of the feet (the toe part of the foot, that is). Your heels rest on the flanges of the rudder track, you push against the fixed foot plates with the bottoms of your heels and have the balls of your feet and toes free to work the pedals. Since I like to paddle with my heels rather closer together and more firmly planted than usually possible with hull- / side-mounted foot rests, I personally prefer this set-up to any other system. Even when I don't use the rudder, I like the freedom of flexing my toes during long rough hauls without having to take my feet out of a fully braced position or compromising having my knees securely locked under the boat's carlings (or knee braces in a hard shell). The central pedestal-and-track set-up also permits the installation of a foot-operated bilge pump on the pedestal itself (simple spring mounted plunger between the rudder control pedals that can be pushed with either foot), which means it's always at the correct distance for optimum hands-free operational efficiency. Furthermore this arrangement makes possible a very simple way to rig the lines leading from the pedals to the rudder cables in such a way that once set up they are always at the right length, independent of where you move the pedestal on the track and without the need to adjust the lines individually thereafter. Disclaimer: I import Pouch boats to the USA. However, the rudder assembly and the foot pump option are freely available on the after sales market (at least in Germany -- check www.zoelzer.de English language catalogue under "security" and "steering"); Pouch supplies the rudder together with the boats as third party product. Best regards, Ralph C. Hoehn Ralph_at_PouchBoats.com http://www.PouchBoats.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Sep 05 2000 - 09:18:08 PDT
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