Purchased a used, tandem Riot Sea Chaser kayak this weekend, and I find I’d really like to add a rudder to the boat, if at all possible!
The rear of the boat (see pix) appears like it might support a rudder, but as I’m a n00b to paddling I’d appreciate any advise re: any universal rudder kits that may work on this boat?
Many thanks in advance!
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-SgsekgkdQsM/Ue2YlXFILhI/AAAAAAAAObc/EY78q-s1kUo/w607-h946-no/IMAG0564%7E01.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Uz21e_HstuE/Ue2YlahExFI/AAAAAAAAOb0/JqDUBLkoNdk/w1255-h897-no/IMAG0567.jpg
Rudders
Feathercraft and SmartTrack both make aftermarket rudders, but they’re $200+, and you’d still probably have to make a custom bracket for your stern.
stern
You can see the two bolts at the stern; these are designed to hold on a bracket for the rudder as mentioned above. Most bracket bolts I’ve seen are aligned vertically as opposed to horizontally.
Your best bet is to contact a local shop that sells Riot to have them order the bracket. Probably should just go for the Riot brand rudder while you’re at it so that everything meshes correctly. Different brands have different diameter guide pins and some rudder pulley assemblies may interfere with the squared off shape of that stern.
Here’s the Riot dealer locator: http://www.riotkayaks.com/usa_region.php
There’s also these guys:
http://www.sealectdesigns.com/products/tracking
They have a rudder mounting gudgeon for flat sterns that looks like it might work for you with their Trucourse rudder.