I about a year ago I added a 27 lb Epic GPX to my boats because at age 78 I need lighter weight boats. The problem is that they do not track at all. Great for twist creeks when moving but slow down to take some photos or waiting for slower paddlers and I am working to keep the boat straight. “Common complaint of GPX owners”
As the kayak is Carbon composite, I amnot finding a solution to adapt a skeg or rudder.
I vote Rudder. After paddling boats without one for many years, then having a rudder on my boats for the last 4 years, I can confidently say I will choose a rudder on my boat every single time.
I have skill to keep the boat straight without one, but in wind, waves, if you want to steer hands free, etc, the rudder makes like 1000x easier and more enjoyable IMO.
If you’re just looking to enjoy the water, get a rudder such as the Trak or contact epic. I think they have an over stern rudder available.
It would take some drilling on your part, but this could possible work
SmartTrack Complete Long Pin Rudder and Footbrace Kit - Olympic Outdoor Center?
Check out the reviews here may give you some ideas
I’ve owned a GPX for ten years and soon after purchasing it, I discovered its ugly weathercocking tendency in a quartering wind. For about ten bucks at Walmart, I bought a plastic kitchen cutting board and a tube of something called “Goop”. I then sketched out a couple of potential skegs on cardboard, cut them out and traced one onto the plastic board then cut it out with a coping saw. Placed it halfway between the aft end of the coaming and the stern, squeezed out a generous bead of Goop and set the skeg into it being careful to check fore and aft alignment, then smoothed out the mess with my finger tip. After letting this cure for a day or so, I took it for a test paddle and found that my skeg Over compensated and made the boat less maneuverable than I wanted. No problem, just took the coping saw and removed about 1/2 inch from the outer edge of the skeg which left about 10 square inches of surface area. That was about as close to perfect as I think I could get: Minimal weather cocking and still very maneuverable. And, BTW, the Goop remains elastic and so the skeg can easily be removed if need be. If you don’t want to go with an expensive, complicated rudder, you might give this a try. A simple solution.
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