Hi Folks, I was talking to Paul last night and he has this to add to the debate on rudders, and the questions over his data: 3My average daily paddling distance has markedly decreased of late. I9m blaming the rudder for slowing me down; it has nothing to do with my alleged advancing age. The main requirement is that rudders are painted with black and yellow racing stripes to keep sharks and crocs at bay.2 The last is to do with paddling in tropical waters, where the stripes mimic those on sea snakes. Paul is obviously a slow learner, as he is putting the finishing touches to his latest kayak, a Nordkapp HM, with a high deck to accommodate his tightening hamstrings, weighing 25 kg (very heavy for him, it is reinforced for ice-bashing). Fitted with a rudder, of shiny aluminium, he is leaving on Friday for a trip to East Greenland, which is a reconnaissance for a longer trip next year, following the route of Gino Watkins. Paul is going with Conrad Edwards, with whom he has done much of his paddling over the last few years. Conrad, a K1 champion, also has a rudder fitted to his Nordkapp, and he uses a wing paddle. Is nothing sacred. While Paul is very opinionated on his support for rudders for long trips, he is happy to let the debate rage, while he simply does the miles. Works for him. Cheers JKA -- John Kirk-Anderson Banks Peninsula NEW ZEALAND *************************************************************************** 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 Wed Jul 04 2007 - 07:02:37 PDT
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