"Jerry F" <gfoodma_at_earthlink.net> wrote: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Doug, Nice write-up. My only comment is that the phrase 'need a rudder' is not helpful. The rudder should be considered primarily an energy saving device. Even in moderate conditions that can easily be handled without a rudder, i.e., rudder not 'needed', some small percentage of energy can often be saved by using the rudder and just paddling forward. So why not?<<<<< <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Your efficiency point is arguable since rudders themselves cause additional drag just being in the water so they need to make up for more than they loose (with increased control of direction with less effort used--which may or may not be the case depending on many other factors, the kayak's design being a major one of those). So, you ask, why not? Well, rudder systems can have many disadvantages, many even if the rudder is never put in the water. 1)Less fatigue. Loose or spongy foot pedals diminish the power of your stroke in those systems where the rudder pedal slides (because of the reduction in being able to use thigh and calf muscles to help share the load). Where the pedals work like gas pedals just the calf muscles are mostly lost for sharing the hull drag load among your muscle groups. 2)Possible injury during carrying, in camp or at sea (sharp edges and corners can create difficulties especially during rescues. One person I'm aware of grabbed the cable to try to stop his kayak from getting away from him in small surf and the cable cut his hand to the bone. 3)A more jerky ride as the flat rudder surface is batted sideways by wave crests in steep cross-chop. 4)The rudder can trip you as it reenters the water during a broach especially if you try to correct the broach by using the rudder (straightening your down wave leg off its thigh brace as is common the way almost all rudder systems set up--with uncrossed cables). 5)Broken rudders, cables, corrosion, and wear mean far more maintenance is required. A rudder dependent paddler can suddenly go "cold turkey" in extreme conditions if the rudder fails. Or much worse, imagine your rudder stuck down and hard over to one side during a rough solo crossing. I once won a kayak race partly because a paddler in a faster kayak had this happen to him during the sprint at the start. After that he could only go in circles. 6)During Sea Kayaker magazine's tank tests a kayak rudder added 10% more drag (at 3 knots) on both of two separate runs. Even if the added isn't nearly this high with more modern rudders, the added drag would be a good reason to use it as little as possible. 7)Due to the toggle's location the hull usually bangs against your leg when carrying the stern. Changing tired hands on the toggle often means a choice between risking back or groin injury or putting the clean (wet) hull down in the sand. 8)Slower turns while moving because you straighten your knee to push the rudder pedal rather than lifting that knee to tilt the kayak. In testing over 500 North American kayaks leaned just short of putting the cockpit underwater I turned them in an average of 11.3 sec though 180 degrees. Keeping the kayaks level I averaged just over 19 seconds for the same turn. 9)Slower spins because of the rudder's drag and often inability to move nearly 90 degrees from straight back (the average of 225 tests was 25% slower with the rudder down than up.) 10)Fouling of towing or fishing lines. 11)A rudder aggravates weatherhelm by adding windage at the stern. 12)Correcting weatherhelm with a rudder adds considerably more paddling resistance because you must angle the rudder to go straight. This is equivalent of dragging a stick in the water as wide as the area the angled blade sweeps out to control the weather tendency of the boat. 13)Backing up, the rudder blade has a strong tendency to flop to one side or the other. (You might also be stopped or tangled more by seaweed as well). 14)Rudders have been hit by sharks. Some have speculated that the motion (or vibrations from the rudder) acts as a lure to them. 15)Rudders take time to work and the delay in feedback that delay causes often results in over control and zig-zagging. There is also less fine and precise control when using a pedal/cables/rudder system. I've found it is far more difficult to thread through a tight place with rudder control than by using paddle and lean control alone. 16)It gets in the way of learning other means of controlling the difficulties that it can help correct and often creates a depencency on the one part of the paddle/kayak/paddler system most likely to fail. And the rudder is most likely to fail at the times it is most needed by the rudder dependant rudderer/paddler (in rough and windy conditions when it is being put under the most stress). Matt Broze www.marinerkayaks.com *************************************************************************** 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 Mon Jun 25 2007 - 05:07:58 PDT
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