[Paddlewise] Musings about rudders

From: Tord Eriksson <tord_at_tord.nu>
Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2007 10:50:36 +0200
I am just wondering about those kayaks that
have both a retractable skeg and a rudder (retractable
as well, of course) - what's the logic behind ?! A lot
of lines and, more things that can go wrong!

Wouldn't a down-lockable rudder (at the same time
locking the pedals) be simpler and better -
as then it would work both as a skeg and 
as a rudder?!

If our basic kayak is extremely course steady - say by
having nil rocker wouldn't a forward skeg be nice :-)!

We have found that our huge Klepper XXL turns on a dime
(Ok, big dime!) with leeboard down in combination with
the rudder (or paddle, or both) - in fact it turns sharper than
the two feet shorter Aerius II, probably due to lower draft
(we weigh just 20 lbs more when we use the XXL, compared 
to the Aerius II, but has a lot of more packing volume - nice)!

Tord
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Received on Wed Jul 04 2007 - 01:40:15 PDT

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