Actually, the best part about the Sealine Rudder is how very effective the blade is. I guess you just have to see it and use it to believe it. I know that only Kiwis can make proper rudder systems :^), but this is actually a great improvement over US systems and I'll bet the blade is as good as anything else out there, world-wide. I too fear that the vertical blade is an accident waiting to happen. It sticks up too far to not take abuse. Even worse, I worry about the damage it could do to a paddler's body. Fall on it, or meet it in a surf tumble, and you could get sliced, diced and impaled. But then, real kayakers live for danger, or we wouldn't call them rudder "blades," right? One other thing after a bit of experience with these systems -- blast the nifty foot pegs systems out after use. They get to be a real challenge to adjust with a little sand and salt and normal fleet use. Harold In a message dated 10/4/01 6:25:37 PM Pacific Daylight Time, a.ferguson_at_chem.canterbury.ac.nz writes: > >[Mary] > >I am not sure if you have looked at this system, but the blade is very > >different from usual rudder systems because it is much smaller. > > That means that is too short. The blade I have on a rudder with the same > approach (vertical stowed blade) stood miles up in the air. The pivot could > not have been any lower or it would have been under water, the support > block usually touched the water, and the blade could not be any shorter to > be effective. If the pivot is any lower there won't be enough mechanical > strength/support for the blade which will bend or split the mounting block. > > > The pivot > >point for the rudder is lower than a conventional system so consequently it > >does not have to drop down as far. > > If you put one of those on a Sea Yak the blade wouldn't even get wet - too > short to reach the water. > > > When the blade is retracted it comes up > >from the lower pivot point and it is shorter so it doesn't stick up very > far > >at all. I didn't measure it but it didn't extend much farther from the > deck > >than a conventional rudder. > > That means it would only be long enough on a high decked kayak if the whole > unit was mounted at water level otherwise the blade is too short for > anything other than flat water paddling. > > > It has less surface area so there is less wind > >drag when it is up. > > Even less efficient no matter how good the foil shape is. > > >The other thing I liked about the system was that the blade has a spring > >that causes the blade to retract if you forget to take up your rudder when > >you get into shallow water or get into heavy bull kelp, > > You mean drops the blade into the water, a string pulls it up(?). We do > mean retract when we pull it out of the water? A properly designed system > allows "kickup" at some predetermined load. The spring is a high-tech > equivalent of a bit of bungy. > > Alex *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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