As already mentioned skegs and rudders each have their own virtues. This post has comments on rudders.
There are rudder setups where the footpegs slide to control the rudder orientation when the rudder is down. Since the footpegs are not fixed in position, such maneuvers as rolling the kayak and keeping tight control of the kayak (in rough conditions) become more difficult. There are other systems where the footpeg is fixed and rudder orientation is controlled from an arrangement rather like a accelerator pedal in an auto. These are preferable for kayak control.
There are rudder setups where the rudder is held in the ‘down’ position by gravity. These lead to rudders which can easily ride up and do not remain fully deployed in the ‘down’ position. There are others that are spring loaded that remain correctly in the ‘down’ position, but can still ride up over obstacles and then go back down. These are also preferable.
In rough seas the rudder (being at the stern) is often not even in the water. Skegs are nearly always in the water.
If it’s that rough and rudder is out you’re on a crest. Easy to pivot a hull on a crest. It’s not out of the water long at all. Skegs come out too both are briefly exposed.
Maybe I can add some observations that might help the OP.
When you are going straight you have to pay attention to the water going left or right under your bow and correct early by adjusting each stroke; the longer you wait to correct the harder it gets to correct, and if you let it go too far you have to take several strokes on one side to correct. Its very doable, in time you get used to it and adjust without thinking.
My Epic 18X has zero rocker and is designed for straight, with maybe a 75’ turning radius at best if I sweep hard on one side at speed. If I stop paddling it will veer but it takes longer than the 14 footers. The boat has a drop down rudder which is more like a skeg that pivots a little. With the rudder down (skeg) I can stop paddling and the boat will go straight until it slows so much that the rudder doesn’t do anything. This is nice! But, and this surprised me, if I push the rudder hard over and sweep hard to make a tight turn, the turning radius is actually wider than with the rudder stowed. The reason is the rudder (or a skeg) doesn’t let the stern go sideways.
Where the skeg comes in handy is you don’t have to pay so much attention to correcting an incipient veer, and you can glide while taking a short break. Where the rudder comes in handy is when I’m going a long distance with a side wind trying to weathercock my boat, because the rudder can easily overcome that. Without a rudder, being right handed a starboard wind can get my left arm aching after a few miles,as I have to pull harder on my left to compensate for the weathercocking.
I assume I also have a dominate (and therefore stronger) right arm and side because if I stop paying attention to my strokes I find I turn left nearly all the time. I only need to think about keeping my strokes the same and the problem disappears. But if I am lazy or very tired I find I veer off to the left in every kayak, even in beaming wind that should turn me to the right. I slowly go left
If I deploy my skeg of my Chatham even 1/4 of the way I go very straight. If I use a rudder on my Sea Lion I also go straight.
It was much worse last year then it is this year, but I still have that tendency a little bit. I hope that I overcome it 100%, but so far I have reduced it a lot, but not eliminated it.
I want to be equal on both sides which is simply a skill I have not mastered 100% yet. Paulo told me to not use the rudder or skeg as much as possible because it makes a better and smoother paddler out of you. I believe him — and so that’s what I do most of the time.
One trick I was told last year was to follow the blades with my head and eyes and be sure the angle is the same and the place where I cut the paddle out of the water is the same. The torso rotation is helped a lot by doing that, and the arc of the blade in the water is far better than it was before I started using that system. It worked and I overcame the bad turn I had pretty fast.
Now I need not twist over enough to follow the path with my eyes, but if I don’t think about it at all I still go a bit left over a longer distance. I assume it’s just part of the learning curve.
If I edge on my left side it overcomes the turn too, but doing that for hours on end is not the answer. So just concentrating on an even and uniform left and right stroke is the key for me. As long as I remember I have not got that problem anymore.
I do use both the skeg and the rudder, but only when even paddle strokes and edging are no longer doing the trick.
Thanks, Kevburg. All good info to consider, especially watching for contending with strong starboard wind when right handed. I guess lefties experience similar problem with a strong port wind. Sheila
Get a 4 piece paddle. 750 CM2 blade on weak side and 650 CM2 on the strong side.
Only kidding
Funny few days ago I did 30 strokes with my eyes closed and stayed dead straight. Was at good cruising speed 4+ mph. My Extreme goes like an arrow shot in no wind.
Regarding age, rudder or skeg makes no difference. Both work equally well if properly deployed to counteract the effect of beam winds.
A skeg has the advantage of keeping the rear deck clear and not needing the feet to use it. The disadvantages are losing space in the rear hatch for storing gear. May prevent stowage of larger items such as tents, sleeping bags and kayak carts.
A rudder has the advantage of being useful for turning the boat in addition to counteracting the effects of beam winds, although that is not its primary purpose. Leaves the stern storage area free. Can interfere with a cowboy self-rescue. When not deployed can catch the wind a bit. Necessary if using a sail rig.
Many think a rudder is more complex and therefore more suspectable to failure. However this is not true. The main potential failure is a broken rudder cable. This is easily repaired in the field with a bungee cord applied from the rudder to a deck fitting on the side where the cable is broken. Using the pedal on the intact side works well, although some pressure is require to keep the rudder in the neutral position. Failure of a skeg, however, often occurs when you land on a beach and that prefect sized pebble jams the skeg in the retracted position. If a person attempts to deploy the skeg forcibly, the cable can be kinked. This usually requires a cable replacement, which can be complicated and not an option in the field. To reduce the chance of this happening, many people with a skeg will drill a small hole in the end of the skeg and put a loop of cord there. Using this loop the kayaker can return to the beach and use the loop to hopefully free the skeg, or if paddling with someone else, the other person can come along side to use the loop to free it. Over the years, I have done one temporary field repair of a rudder with a broken cable but I have had to tow three boats with a jammed skeg, and there have been a number of occasions where a skeg was jammed, but the conditions were mild enough where help was not necessary.
Some rudders were operated by having the foot pegs slide forward and back, which most people did not like, preferring rigid pegs. However, I don’t know of any manufacturer that uses this type of foot peg anymore. Pretty much all ruddered boats now use a gas pedal type of foot peg, where the foot pegs are fixed once adjusted. Common foot peg assemblies are made by Sea-Lect or Smart Track. Personally, I have found the Smart Track pedal system prone to cable failure due to the way the cable is routed at the pedal. The pedal system itself also has a lot of aluminum components that tend to corrode in salt water. Sea-Lect uses high strength polymer. The old style sliding pedals and Smart track pedals can be easily relaced with the Sea-Lect pedal system in most cases without replacing the original rudder.
Wow, Rstevens 15, thank you. You’ve given me the benefit of many years of experience that I would likely not be paddling long enough to acquire firsthand. I will definitely look into what the Delta’s rudder system is like. Much appreciated info to consider. Sheila
Something else to consider is simply how easy it is to deploy and retract the rudder or skeg. Some older rudder systems just had a looped line next to or behind the cockpit - pulling on one side of the line would deploy the rudder and pulling on the other side would retract it. Many newer rudders with the spring-loaded operation just have a single line - for example, when the line is released, the spring deploys the rudder and then pulling on the line pulls the rudder back up against the force of the spring. Some of these systems, especially the old-style, require quite a lot of force on those lines, so much that sometimes you just can’t get the rudder to move.
So, try the mechanism that deploys and retracts the rudder (or skeg) to make sure that older arms and hands can comfortably use it. Also note that rudder controls usually seem to be slightly behind the paddler and might be a little awkward to get at if arm motion is “not what ir used to be”. Skeg controls are usually further forward and therefore easier to reach.
Thanks, Wolf. This is a good thing to consider. According to what the Delta site says:
Re SKEGS: “All kayak models in our Performance Touring category come with the option of our Spring Loaded Skeg System. Our skeg system is simple to deploy and features a kink-free operation. The skeg line is housed in a tube and tucked away under-deck so it reduces the chance of snagging when loading and unloading gear.”
On Frontenac Outfitters site:
RE Rudder: “ * A SeaDog ‘Gas Pedal Style’ Rudder System and easy adjust SeaDog foot pedals provide solid bracing.”
I really must try a new style one out if possible.
I have a kayak that has both a skeg and a rudder outfitted on it, so I’ve been able to compare when each is most useful on the exact same hull in the identical conditions. The reason I have both is a bit of an accident – the Stellar kayak comes by default with a skeg built-in but I ordered during covid when there wasn’t much stock and the one available also had the optional add-on rudder. The rudder is a Smart Track based one with fixed foot pegs. Only the top half of the pegs move to control the rudder.
The long and the short of it is that I use the skeg over 90% of the time due to the simplicity. But for that remaining 10%, which is mostly quartering winds, the rudder is superior.
If I had to choose one, I’d probably go for the rudder. With the fixed pegs, there is relatively little downside, and when you have a long crossing with off angle winds, you gain so much efficiency by just focussing on your forward stroke with no corrections that it is worth the slight hassle of ensuring your toes are maintaining the right pressure to keep the rudder angle.
I guess the reason I don’t use my rudder by default in regular conditions is that I’m never 100% certain my rudder is perfectly straight. With the skeg, I know any off course movement is either due to wind, current, or and unbalanced stroke. If the rudder had some kind of tactile feedback like a positive click or something when it was centered, I’d probably almost never use my skeg.
I have a Delta 16, Epic 14x and Stellar 16. Both the Epic and Stellar are “sea” kayaks but I absolutely hate paddling either without a rudder in the water. My Delta is the opposite - and I rarely use the rudder unless conditions require it.
Don’t know about the Stellar 16, but the Epic 14X (that I have too) is typically designed to be used with a rudder, although I like using it without a rudder on flatwater with no wind because it is more responsive then to the way I paddle. But I am an older paddler that mainly uses this kayak for fitness and surfing in waves.
Interesting @sparaa. Does the Stellar 16 have a flat hull in the back like the 14? I find the 14 unpaddleable without the skeg or rudder for tracking. One small stroke will send you into a 90+ degree turn without the skeg down. With the skeg down though it is great.
that mainly uses this kayak for fitness and surfing in waves.