Bow Rudder Stroke: Why? Purpose?

it is one purpose yes

– Last Updated: Jun-08-09 12:14 PM EST –

That stroke in the video is usually called a moving draw, but not to get picky, if one plants it at the hip or somewhat forward it will act ahead of the center of moment of the boat and you will get a turn out of it depending on your boat and boat speed.

A bow rudder does not actually bring the bow into the wind but by acting as a pivot, holding the bow from being pushed downwind. Then the stern can slide downwind. It looks like the bow is moving upwind but actually it is the stern pivoting around the bow.

The advantage here is two fold. When you use only sweep strokes you slow the forward motion down with a reverse sweep on the upwind side, this allows the bow to slide downwind again, can be frustrating and even dangerous if being blown out to sea!

LIke Jay says though, one learns why strokes work and how to move from one to another with the least effort and from the position one finds oneself in at the time.

A big advantage in learning these strokes is to have more than one way in your hip pocket so if one stroke does not work you have other ways to get it done.

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Duffek stroke
I believe Duffek stroke is the term you mean. In the ‘Paddling’ section of the Mariner Kayaks website, they speak of the Duffek stroke and the Bow Rudder as synonyms, so go figure. BTW, their descriptions of the various strokes are pretty good, worth reading over.

A good enough reason is
it looks cool and doing it or learning it is fun. The best thing about kayaking is once past safety and some basic skills, everything else is because you want to and can.

it gives me a tighter turn radius
than a stern rudder. As others have mentioned, a bow rudder is very effective for turning into the wind.



As to your reference of bracing… If you are using a stern rudder and need to brace you have to bring the stern blade forward into a low brace position. For a bow rudder, if you fall away from the blade in the water you are pretty much automatically setup for a high brace/roll.



I usually plant the blade at about my knee (maybe a bit further forward) and can still turn my Explorer 180 degrees or more with minimal forward momentum.

stern rudder into a low brace

– Last Updated: Jun-08-09 4:04 PM EST –

rotate wrists down and move the blade forward while keeping your head low. Works for me :)

oh wait, that's what you said, hence we are in complete agreement.

next time I’m in strong wind
I’ll have to take note again next time paddling in the wind, but there are times when the stern rudder loses effectiveness to a large degree in comparison with a bow rudder. Right off, I would say it’s turning downwind vs into the wind. Thinking about it, turning into the wind often wants to happen automatically, because the stern is already blowing downwind with the bow holding more steady, designed to avoid leecocking even sitting still. When turning gets most difficult is typically when strong wind and chop are acting to pin you directly beam (can appear quite dramatic for a paddler without developed turning skills in a straight-tracking kayak). Even in that situation, it seems turning into the wind is fairly easy with a stern rudder, but I’m second guessing myself after reading this. In any case, get comfortable with it and there will be instances where it will come in very handy. I’ll likely remember the upwind/downwind thing now the next time I’m in some serious wind. Who knows, much of it may be somewhat “particular kayak in particular conditions” specific too.

Really, the ability to manoeuver the bow in tighter spaces is a very good use in and of itself.

My Two Cents
I put the stern rudder and the high brace in the same category… comfortable, intuitive, stable.



The bow rudder and low brace… not so much.

Duffek stroke

– Last Updated: Jun-10-09 4:37 PM EST –

http://www.kayakforum.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/guille/wiki.pl?Duffek

http://www.paddling.net/guidelines/showArticle.html?253

"An open-faced bow draw is commonly referred to as the "Duffek" stroke. It allows you to grab a substantial amount of water to aggressively pull your bow around. By dropping your upstream edge slightly, you can also use your Duffek stroke for a slight stern pivot, which takes advantage of buoyancy energy to further help your turn. When would you use this stroke? A Duffek gets used when we need to move from an eddy into the main current and face downstream as quickly as possible."

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"Draw" versus "rudder".

"Draw" strokes move the paddle and the boat together. (You are drawing the paddle towards the boat. If the paddle doesn't get closer to the boat, no "drawing" is being done!) In a perfect world, the paddle would would not move at all and only the boat would move.

"Pry" strokes move the paddle and the boat away from each other.

"Rudders" maintain the same distance between the paddle and the boat (and they only work if there is water flow).

Note that "water flow" means water flowing along the hull. This could mean the boat is moving relative to the water or the water is moving relative to the boat.

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Oddly, the "hanging draw" basically misuses the "draw" part in its name!

http://www.atlantickayaktours.com/Pages/ExpertCenter/propulsion/Propulsion-4.shtml


RUDDERS
A bow rudder is a rudder placed for of the center of gravity. A stern rudder is placed aft of center of gravity. A hip rudder is placed at center of gravity. Hip rudder is often called hanging draw or side slip. The advantage of the bow rudder nearer to the center of gravity is that the bow actually has more freedom to move as your body stays at the center of gravity. Another benefit is that you have way more support allowing you to employ a much stronger edge with less tendency to capsize.


Read about in my BCU text book, but…
use it in my whitewater boat. Have yet to use it in a sea kayak, but maybe while surfing?



Its an effective directional change when you are in, oh, fast current, and oh - headed for that rock!



That and a good lean has gotten me into an eddy I thought I was going to miss.

stern rudder
is one technique for surfing a wave… when I said I used a bow rudder in the surf zone, that’s when I need to turn back out into the next wave before I get broadsided… or if I get back out and need to do a 180 to catch a wave…







In response to some of the other post, I used to have some reservations about crossing over for a bow rudder, side slip, or stern rudder, but after taking a two day ACA strokes and maneuvers class, and level 3 training, and using it… they feel comfortable. You also learn which strokes are more appropriate for certain conditions. In 30 knots the bow rudder become a bow sail.


definition of draw, pry, rudder?

– Last Updated: Jun-09-09 7:27 AM EST –

njkayaker said...

"Draw" strokes move the paddle and the boat together. (You are drawing the paddle towards the boat. If the paddle doesn't get closer to the boat, no "drawing" is being done!)

"Pry" strokes move the paddle and the boat away from each other.

"Rudders" maintain the same distance between the paddle and the boat.

Oddly, the "hanging draw" basically misuses the "draw" part in its name!

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You sure about those definitions, Jordan? I think the actual definitions concern the movement of the boat in the direction of the paddle, not the relative motion of the boat and paddle, which is sometimes the means to accomplish sideways movement. So...

* draw -- boat moves in direction of paddle

*pry -- boat moves in direction away from paddle

*hanging draw/pry -- a draw/pry where the boat and paddle don't move relative to each other; the action depends solely on static blade angles

*rudder -- a hanging draw/pry done more toward the bow or stern, so it serves to turn the boat (or work against a turning force induced by surf or current)

isn’t a hanging draw a
stationary draw combined with a (stationary) high brace?


hanging draw and brace?
Is a hanging draw a stationary draw combined with a (stationary) high brace? Guess it could be. But a “pure” hanging draw has no downward force – the blade is perfectly vertical.



And that brings me to the ultimate definition of all these “pure” stroke forms…



draw – pressure on the blade away from the boat



pry – pressure on the blade toward the boat



brace – downward pressure on the blade



and of course, there is…



capsize – upward pressure on the blade (or lack of downward pressure when needed)!



I guess there’s also forward and backward.



And finally, the obvious… all those pressure directions can be combined in infinite and dynamic ways in 3-dimensional waterspace to create… ta dahhh… real paddling!

Nigel Foster’s take

– Last Updated: Jun-09-09 9:38 AM EST –

At home last night I thought about this and pulled out his directional control video. He demonstrates using the second half of a sweep to turn downwind, and a bow rudder for going from beam to upwind. He's demonstrating starting from a stationary position on flat water in a light wind. He's edging away from the blade in the water for his bow rudder. He explains leaning into the wind locks the stern in place, as experienced when leaning into the wind to aid in tracking. Leaning away from the wind frees the stern and allows it to skid downwind around the bow as you guide the bow upwind.
He also speaks to the stability of a bow rudder. He demonstrates holding the paddle as verticle as possible. If you allow the paddle to angle in towards the boat, that stability is lost. So the upper hand needs to remain reached clear across holding the paddle verticle. I can understand where insecurity may cause a person to want to bring that hand back across the boat, but that will actually reduce your stability. I think this part is a very important consideration when practicing.

Nice Explanation
I only picked a few posts in this thread to read, so I don’t know what else is here. I’ve seen all sorts of comments here in the past about canoers using a Duffek for this and that. I never had a clue that it was a stroke I already know and commonly use until just now. Your explanation of the terminology regarding draws, pries, and strokes providing the same force but without paddle motion is good too. I’ll remember that next time I’m trying to explain basic river moves to someone.

Whoops… reverse brace and capsize defs
Brace is ~upward~ pressure on the blade (that is, the blade pushing down, the water pushing up; Sir Isaac would approve)



–David.

Turning into the wind?
I’m a little confused trying to picture using this stroke to turn into the wind from a “stationary” position, but if Nigel Foster says so I believe it.



To me, a bow rudder can only be effective if the boat is in motion relative to the local water. Thinking of calm water with no wind, the open faced bow rudder will change direction of the moving boat toward toward and around the paddle plant, which can be accentuated by leaning toward or away from the paddle (depending on the kayak hull). However, if the boat is still, the bow rudder by itself will do nothing.



If I am broadside in a strong wind, I can see myself trying to turn into the wind with strong sweep strokes on the downwind side and probably edging downwind. Then when I got some movement, I might try an upwind bow rudder and draw.



Is Foster (or anyone else) saying you can just put out a bow rudder when you are broadsided in wind and waves, with no forward motion relative to the water, and the paddle plant alone will fix the bow and allow the stern to swing downwind?



Maybe I’ve never tried that.


bowrudder is conspicuously absent

Stroke recovery? NM