Skegs are for tracking. Rudders are for steering. Don’t overthink it. Try them both and see which you prefer. I personally believe rudders are more efficient (given the same boat) because then all your energy can go into the most efficient stroke you can muster without any correcting strokes, which, of course, sacrifice some efficiency. That said, 99% of paddlers aren’t trying to be 100% efficient.
I think it’s very boat dependent. My toughest days in wind have been in tandems with my wife. The tandem hybrid folding kayak we throw in the back of the minivan on camping trips exposes a lot of area to wind and I’m glad to have a rudder on that, although on calmer days I don’t even bother taking the rudder out of the bag. I was also really happy to have a rudder on the Wilderness Systems Northstar we used to take trips with. And a rental exploring Milford Sound. And a few other times I can remember.
I don’t think I’d want one on a typical solo sea kayak. Sea kayaks are already low profile except for a raised bow, and low enough to be somewhat protected from the wind by surrounding waves. I’d rather have the simpler skeg.
And sometimes I think I’m spoiled now, because I was into canoeing first and canoes get blown around a lot more.
You’re still giving up efficiency.
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that is 100% more efficient design than wa wilderness systems rudder. which looks like a rectangle.
Thats it maybe but its still good enough to hit an average of 6.2 Mph over 2.5 miles. besides The Brachial Plexus Paulsey makes me give up more efficiency than that so I might as well do something that gives up the least amount of efficiency.
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In my opinion the primary purpose of both is for tracking, although a rudder can be used to steer the boat as well. There are other means to steer a boat, but a boat without either in a strong crosswind is very limited in its ability to track well in an efficient manner.
I would never deploy a rudder just to steer my boat. It’s inefficient and creates drag.
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Wilderness Systems are more recreation designs. I hope I can tweek my 175 Tsunamu to behave like the 145. Then I’d take the contraption off.
I read an old Barton article and he said Epic uses rudders because their 2% drag is better than the much higher percent wasted energy in corrective strokes…and allows most efficient use of the wing paddle.
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