Re: [Paddlewise] [SPAM] Re: Rudder redux

I think that there are other factors that could have resulted in such a
large difference. Prevailing winds, for one thing. But we'll never know for
sure until someone tries to replicate the data. Caffyn himself is adamant in
his defense of the rudder, however. He clearly feels that it made a huge
difference. And, since no one has ever done anything like what he did it's
hard to refute him.

Craig Jungers
Royal City, WA

On 7/1/07, Michael Daly <michaeldaly_at_greatlakeskayaker.ca> wrote:
>
> Craig Jungers wrote:
>
> > Caffyn recorded a nearly-33% increase in daily mileage with a rudder
> > compared to no rudder.
>
> It seems to me with that kind of difference, he's not measuring the
> performance of the rudder so much as either of:
>
> 1) how badly designed his kayak is or
> 2) how poorly chosen the kayak was for his type of paddling.
>
> No kayak should require a rudder.  If you want to use one, fine, but a
> kayak that _needs_ a rudder is a seriously flawed design.
>
> I've paddled kayaks that need a rudder - one, which I've condemned
> before, I launched with the rudder locked in the retracted position into
> a windy Lake Ontario.  After a few hundred meters of paddling in every
> direction except the one I wanted to go, I returned the kayak to the
> beach and went home.  This borrowed kayak was a ridiculously bad design.
>
> The kayaks I've owned have not required a rudder.  My Solstice GTHV,
> long ago sold, was very well mannered without the rudder, so much so
> that I never used it.  If there was any hint that the rudder would have
> made such a difference as Caffyn showed, I'd have sold the kayak quickly
> and condemned it considerably.  As it was, I'd expect that the rudder
> would only provide a marginal difference and only under the most extreme
> conditions.  Given that I never deployed the rudder in the 5 or so years
> I paddled the Solstice, those conditions would have to be very extreme
> indeed.
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