Scott wrote: - >I personally have never found the rudder to >create all that much windage despite the popular >urban myths to the contrary. G'Day Scott, Urban myth sounds a bit strong. It surely depends on the boat, the rudder and the conditions. If on choppy or rough water then there are so many options for controlling a kayak that the stern windage of some rudders may not be a nuisance. But try paddling a Klepper on flat water with the rudder undeployed and a stiff beam wind, say 15 to 20 knots and the urban myth will become a sad fact. I'm using the Klepper as an extreme example, it surely has the biggest rudder in the world and it can be quite handy sometimes. But I've noticed several other boats with the same characteristic. Can't say much about skegs as I'm still waiting to have my Pittarak fitted with one. Reason I'm changing is to surf bigger following seas. I'm told Pittaraks tend to broach in seas bigger than 2m and the rudder is hardly in the water at all under those conditions so for the moment I'm keeping my paddling to seas less than 2m. Hope skegs have improved since your problems with pebbles. Regarding the crutch analogy, sure a skeg or a rudder can be a 'crutch', but they can also be a walking stick. If you're going for a 10km walk in the park you probably don't need a walking stick, but for a 50km hike across rough terrain in unpredictable weather, it could help conserve energy. Same with kayaking. I found yesterday there was a limit to how many power bars and bananas, a skinny underweight guy can eat on a long paddle. Maybe Godiva Belgian Dark Chocolate would be better. All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** 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 Sun Oct 26 2003 - 01:32:04 PST
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