If my 15-foot Stellar with a composite hull had a retractable skeg, it would be the perfect boat (I ordered it without a rudder). Any advice out there about available aftermarket skegs and who does a good job installing them (I am not a do-it-yourselfer)? Kajaksport offers one. Can’t find any present evidence of the highly touted OHNO skeg. Help and thanks.
After market skeg or rudder?
Best if you posted a picture, model, etc. You “ordered” it? Used or new? If it has a skeg already it’s best without the rudder.
Retrofiting a skeg to a kayak is no small undertaking. You will need to cut holes into the boat, and then attack the new skeg box and slider box to the holes. The cables will also need to be run (more holes required for that). THis happens so rarely that I wasn’t even aware that a skeg kit existed till you posted this.
Should you buy the kit, the work of installing it could be doable by most anyone that can do composite work, and composite work is pretty common in the boating industry. But a specialty kayak shop who has done skeg work and understands the intricacies of running cables for smoothest operation may be best.
OHNO is an apt name for ONNO. He left a number of folks hanging who had payed for paddles that never showed up. One is a good friend who owns 2, but never got the last one he payed for.
Appreciate the responses. The Stellar 15 is a new boat; it comes standard with rudder. I ordered the boat w/o rudder, so it has neither rudder or skeg. The addition of a skeg would make this a close-to-perfect boat for me. That is, if it could be installed in a way that looks factory-installed.
Hey valsdad, Retrofitting a skeg shouldn’t be a huge deal. I tried to return your message, but the email keeps getting kicked back. Shoot me an email with your contact info and I would be happy to talk to you about your boat.
joey@turningpointboatworks.com
Hey Joey. I was wondering if you were around.
Grumpy
I can highly recommend the kajaksport pro skeg kit! I just installed one on my Kevlar eddyline falcon 18. The kit is very complete and functions extremely well. The blade is well shaped and proper sized, the skeg box is well built but still compact, and the slider is excellent and very smooth compared to the factory slider on my ndk explorer. I installed the skeg in a short afternoon and was on the water by the evening. I ordered the kit from Toms Top Kayaker which shipped fast, Tms customer service skills are top notch, he is very knowledgeable and answered all my questions. I ordered the kit with the flange because the flangeless kit was out of stock but neatly and easily trimmed the flange off with a pull saw( hacksaw blade would have worked well too) to make it work. if you have any questions about the install or want any photos please drop me a line to shortbus6588@gmail.com
Good information. Thanks so much. My only worry is that my Stellar seems to have a ridge of some type of dense foam running through front and rear bulkheads. Assume it’s to add rigidity to carbon/kevlar skin.
foam cored bulkheads and hulls are common and wont present any problems with the install.