deploy skeg on flat water

Partial Deployment
Many people put the skeg down a small amount. That improves tracking and reduces correction strokes, but you still need to edge, etc., to do maneuvers. Putting the skeg down all the way makes the boat turn off the wind or waves, even if they are very mild.

forward stroke practice
If you are concerned with efficiency, you would be better off focusing on improving your forward stroke which will keep the boat straight without the skeg. It will also improve your speed because your effort will be going into making the boat move forward not sideways.

That tendency for your boat to veer back and forth is from turning every forward stroke into a sweep stroke. Pulling past your hip instead of exiting earlier or sweeping out at the start.

Rowing shells, which do not suffer from
the waggle forces of kayaks, and are both longer and more directional than sea kayaks, have big fixed skegs underneath.



But I would be careful about over-valueing skegs for any kayak. I have read Grand Canyon kayakers raving about running big rapids with skegs down in their XP10s or Fusions, but I think they have just gotten lazy. At any time, a situation could occur when the skeg would be a liability. You certainly can’t run technical rapids with a skeg down.



If one is reaching forward with a good catch, and not prolonging the stroke improperly, the boat should go straight as if pulled by the nose. If it won’t do that unless the skeg is down, it’s back to technique.

Technique and equipment

– Last Updated: Nov-06-12 8:15 PM EST –

Many will claim that the amount of "help" from a
skeg or rudder decreases the need for correctional strokes.
Hence more power, more forward thrust, more efficiency
Humans are not robots, strokes "wiggle" a bit.

Drag
I use my skeg as little as possible, even in wind, because it creates very noticeable drag. I would say it reduces my speed by about 20%.



I would rather correct my course by shifting my weight or leaning so that all of my energy is going into moving forward rather than correcting sideways drift. But of course there are times when leaning and corrective strokes are not enough and then a skeg is a good thing to have. But I would never use it on flat, windless water. And I wouldn’t own a kayak that needed a skeg in those conditions.



But as you say, it depends on several factors. Over time I’ve made peace with my kayak’s tracking and now adjust unconsciously.

that’s the best part about a skeg
just deploying it in an “on/off” fashion is really shorting the benefits of the skeg.

Consider Olympic flatwater kayakers
They paddle kayaks that have deployed rudders. All of them.



Anyone think those guys and gals have poor stroke mechanics?

Don’t know, but single sculls don’t have
rudders, and I never heard rudders discussed as an option.



Eight oared shells have rudders, but it’s just to make sure the coxwain doesn’t have his hands in his shorts.

no need
If a skeg reduces speed by 20%, you need a new boat. Did you check this with a GPS?



Any motion of your body, or stroke variation for steering, will create inefficiency. Whether this exceeds the skeg drag or not depends on the particular boat and the particular paddler.



One should not use the word ‘need’ in this context. The question is whether a modicum of efficiency/speed is provided. No kayak should need a skeg in flat water.

scull shell vs kayak
scull shells have 2 oars that goes into the water at the same time. kayak only has one blade in the water at any given time.



Motorcycles have kick stand. Cars don’t.

Skegs increase waterline length?
From a hydrodynamic perspective, does a deployed skeg increase the effective waterline length of a boat, and thus increase the (effective) maximum speed and/or add more efficiency? Does this balance the negative effects of added drag?

:slight_smile:
No, I think the kayak is fine. Maybe it’s that in flat water on a windless day you feel drag easily when you don’t want to feel any drag at all in those conditions. I “estimate” that my skeg slows me down about 20%. I would call it significant. Significant enough that I avoid the skeg if at all possible. But if the end result without the skeg is that I’m exerting effort unnecessarily to stay on course, then I would use the skeg.

My over the stern skeg probably does
a little as I would guess a partially deployed rudder. Little skeg experience till now but seems from the posts “it all depends” on the boat, conditions, skeg style/shape, paddler, etc. Just got my Easy Ryder Dolphin with an over the stern skeg and like it so far. Thin metal (rudder-like) blade, wider at the bottom than top so counter balanced and deployed by its weight from a line to the cockpit - very simple. Down it tracks very straight on all points of wind, up very maneuverable, in between can be tuned as you like. Thinking about one for my canoe. Just thoughts, R

Brilliant. Irrelevant.

exactly!
.

I doubt it

– Last Updated: Nov-08-12 6:40 PM EST –

"From a hydrodynamic perspective, does a deployed skeg increase the effective waterline length of a boat, and thus increase the (effective) maximum speed and/or add more efficiency? "

Increasing the waterline length itself won't give you more speed/efficiency.

It's when your increase in length resulting in decrease of waterline width (given the same displacement volume), then you'll have a more efficient hydrodynamic shape.

wing stroke" waggle"
Agreed. The lateral wing stroke, by far the predominant technique in Olympic sprint, starts with a catch close to (or touching) the hull and then the paddle moves away from the hull. This does makes the bow yaw (and the tail “waggle”), even among the best paddlers.



Current thinking is that the benefits of the stroke (increased rotation/power and the paddle path moving into undisturbed water) more than make up for losses of the yaw introduced.



Competitive kayakers use a rudder so that all effort goes into making the kayak move forward, rather than correcting course.



My racing kayaks all have rudders, but on my touring kayaks, I’m not racing so I simply pull up the skeg completely if it’s not needed, and otherwise drop it down as little as possible until it does the job.



If you really want to increase your effective flatwater speed then touring paddlers should practice drafting (wash riding) one-another, and take turns at the lead.



Greg Stamer

Nordlow better without skeg
My experience on flat calm water is that deploying the skeg on the Nordkapp LV adds drag and causes a slight speed penalty when I attempt top speed. Going straight is a matter of paddling technique and even a polo kayak goes straight with the correct technique and concentration. (I use a short paddle and high angle.)

is drafting viewed negatively?
is it an issue in races?

drafting "rules"
Most races encourage drafting and some don’t, although there are non-spoken rules, even when it is allowed – such as share your time at the front and never, ever, bump the kayak or the paddle of the kayaker ahead of you. Breaking either “rule” more than once will have you quickly “excommunicated” from the group, or having cold water dumped in your lap.



That said, I was talking more about sea kayakers in a group who want to travel fast. For some inexplicable reason, even sea kayakers who are trying to set speed records as a team, rarely draft each other, which is a huge tactical mistake, IMO. Assuming that a group has the same level of fitness and capability, if the conditions allow, you can move faster as a group, drafting on the stern and side wakes, than you can travel alone.



Greg Stamer