Talk:Rudder

Arguing about rudders is like arguing about religion. But I'll try anyway. I don't have a rudder on any of my kayaks. I always seem to get where I'm going. The Eskimo's didn't use rudders. They seemed to get where they were going too. So why do so many people use rudders these days? Is it easier to steer a kayak with a rudder than develop good paddling technique? Is it the Euro boat tradition of steering with a rudder? Are some kayaks badly designed or not used for their intended use? Are some good kayaks trimmed inproperly, making a rudder seem necessary? Inquiring minds want to know.

tgmattso writes:

A rudder is needed on some boats. I have a Seda Glider. It has so much freeboard that in a high wind, it is a pain to keep heading straight. I force myself to go on long paddles in high cross winds just to make sure my technique is sharp, but its exhausting. Frankly, my Looksha sport would benefit from a rudder as well (though I don't even have a skeg on that boat).

Also, every racer I know uses a rudder during a race. When racing, you want 100% of the paddle energy to go into the forward stroke. Any correction at all is too much.

One goal for efficiency is to keep the wetted surface to a minimum. Another goal is to minimize the effort required to keep the boat going straight. An integral skeg can improve tracking efficiency, but it does it at the expense of added wetted surface. A skeg or rudder place far out towards the stern can have the same effect as a more centrally located skeg while doing it with less surface area. So a rudder can be an efficient solution to make a kayak go fast. Nick Schade