You'll get strong opinions on this, including mine: I think rudders are a liability on kayak, with the possible exception of long doubles. Aside from the problems you mentioned of getting a swimmer on the stern deck, towing, and gear lashing, there are others: -They get in the way when trying to empty the boat on the beach -They are something on your friend's boat that can damage you boat or your boat when he gets surfed into you. I'm terrified of having a ruddered boat in a rock garden with me. -It encourages sloppy boat control technique unless you religiously avoid using it (So why have it?) -As another paddler pointed out, they add to stern windage, which further encourages their use in the wind -They break, and are most likely to break in the roughest conditions -They look ugly -I hate them (Hey, you asked) Drop down skegs are a much more elegant solution. They can also break, but are much less obnoxious when they do. When not deployed they essentially don't exist except for the reduced packing area in the stern compartment. Also, except for the fact that they can be retracted, they are consistent with traditional kayaks which often had small fixed skegs. An even better solution is a boat that doesn't need either. And can both turn and track well. Vickie and I have recently bought Mariner Elan and an Express with the hopes of achieving that. So far, so good, but the real test will be storm weather this winter. I'll let you know. With all that said, I would think twice about removing the rudder from your SeaYak. My first closed cockpit boat was a used SeaYak with a buggered up rudder. I just removed it rather than fix it. The boat handled like a dream with no wind and was quite manageable up to about 10 knots cross wind. By 15 knots I was wishing I had the rudder, and by 20 I was considering swimming rather than paddling. Edging the boat only helped to a point, and then after that it just made matters worse by increasing rocker. Some boats are more manageable than others. At the same time period, Vickie had a Necky Narpa that had only mild weather cocking. Removing the rudder would have brought it near zero. What I didn't try with the SeaYak was moving the seat back, and frankly I can't even remember if that was possible. In most boats shifting the weight back can reduce weather cocking significantly, even to the point of inducing a weather vane condition if you load a heavy gear load too far astern (from your email it sound like you know that). I would check all this very carefully before removing it, including high cross wind with short fetch (no waves). The no wave situation can sometimes be much worse than the one you described. Steve Brown Original message: Greetings, My boat is a Prijon Seayak, 16'x23", equipped with a rudder. This is my first experience with a rudder and I'm having second thoughts on whether to leave it in place........... ....... I would be interested in comments regarding rudders and rescue techniques, self or assisted. I'm thinking the disadvantages of having the rudder present may outweigh the advantages of it's use. At least, in my paddling reality. Thanks to all. Holmes *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Oct 24 2003 - 07:57:06 PDT
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