Learn boat handling without a skeg or
rudder.
I have a rudder on my composite Sea Lion, but rarely use it because I like the playfullness without the rudder. I’ve also never had the Sea Lion in any conditions where the rudder would be of more help than hinderance. I’ve yet to try a rudder control system that I like in a kayak. I don’t like the sliding pedals on the Sea Lion and haven’t warmed up to the Smart Track controls on the QCC. The underside of the deck interferes with foot movement with both systems when wearing overshoes over my street shoes. I don’t want to have to go barefoot or wear just socks or minimal booties just so the deck doesn’t interfere with foot movement for the rudder controls. With the gas pedal controls mounted more toward the center line of my Sawyer Summersong solo canoe, there is no interference with foot movement for rudder control regardless of how big my shoes are.
I’ve test paddled a couple skegged kayaks and liked their handling (Chatham 16 and Nighthawk 16) too.
As others have noted, it depends a little on what the designer had in mind when designing the boat.
I’ve used the rudder in my Summersong much more than I’ve used the rudder in the Sea Lion, but I’ve also owned and paddled the Summersong two years longer than the Sea Liion. The rudder definately helps in turning the Summersong in windy and wavy conditions without leaning it as much.
If you can, try out the boat as it is equipped and if you like how it handles, buy it.
Have fun with whichever boat and system you end up with.
Always and never
are two words you should always remember never to use
kayaking vs paddling
your choice.
i don’t get it…
Jesse, I have a couple
of things that you might be interested.
Send me a private email.
Gnarlydog
Kayaking vs Paddling?
Please elaborate.
L
Its like that old Golf saying. “Do you look whear you drive or do you drive whear you look”
well, it seem that most paddlers
prefer a rudder. Admittedly a rudder will possibly make you go faster because you won’t need adjusting strokes or leaning your craft to compensate for conditions. In saying that it appears that a person paddling a ruddered craft does not use the skills that a kayak without one requires.
May I say that often I have noticed in my area that a person paddling a ruddered kayak does not know how to lean a boat and does not know what a sweep stroke is since he/she does not need to.
Furthermore I would say that a skegged kayak (or as some have suggested one without a skeg or rudder) will make you a kayaker while the ruddered one will probably leave you as a paddler. Many types of paddling crafts have rudders and often not much skill is needed to paddle one.
Can’t say the same for a skegged kayak that requires more then just a bit of balance and a forward stroke.
I am aware that I might ruffle up some feathers but my saying is: a ruddered boat makes you a paddler, a skegged boat makes you a kayaker.
Myself: I have ruddered kayaks and skegged ones.
But only once I got the skegged one I finally learned how to kayak.
Gnarlydog
I may be a purist
but Asian women and pinnapeds dig my un ruddered and unskegged boats.
I’ve always thought the opposite?
I guess that’s just another reason why it’s such a disputed thing. I’ve always had the feeling that among aspiring kayakers (this is an important distinction from kayakers in general - these are the ones who want to and are physically able-bodied enough to become “intermediate”) no one wants everyone else seeing them depending on “training wheels”. Most ruddered boats among this type of paddling group will not put the rudder down until thoroughly frustrated simply because they feel some sort of embarrassment about relying on the training wheels. There is no obvious visual evidence of skeg use, and I somehow figured that may be what makes them more likely to come to depend on their version of training wheels. It’s likely just some group dynamic that’s created by certain types of paddlers, but for some reason skeg users are much quicker to go for their training wheels than rudder users. This has been my experience. I don’t care what you use. Hip Hip Hooray for both. Just presenting an opposing observation.
More? Or less?
Eye of the beholder as to whether there are stronger pref's out there for skegs or rudders, and what group of paddlers you are looking at. It may be close to even now just because so many of the newer boats are designed with skegs in mind for their tracking device.
If I am in a group of more aggressive sea kayakers in the NE, there'll probably be a vast majority of skegs because that's what came with the boats that had the manuverability and tracking that most of the group liked. If I am in a group of paddlers who spend a lot of their time doing extended multi-day paddles on inland lakes and rivers, I'll see more rudders.
As to one or the other - heck they both do something useful. I personally wouldn't go with a rudder now, but it's not because I hate the concept. It's because my rudder (on my Squall) was a pain to manage and to use (even with fixed foot pegs) compared to the kinda sloppy but utterly simple rope skeg on my current longest boat. If there was a lazy person's way to convert the cable skeg control on the 16' boat to a rope skeg I'd happily do it, just to have one less thing that could be messy to fix.
Note to Cape Fear - the way you put things up there sounds like you are talking down about using any device. Over a longer paddle, dropping a skeg or a rudder to save some energy for the drive home can be a good thing.
the truely skilled paddler/kayaker
doesn’t need or use either one—(note to rest of board I always use my skeg when going downwind in seas and conditions and obviously put it up when going into the wind—I was referring to that pantheon of kayaking gods who are far above me. :))
where do you club the seals
and kill the walruses to get the materials for the SOF? BTW isn’t it kind of dangerous to club a walrus–they seem cranky
Nonsense on stilts
different take, paddler or kayaker
i am a paddler, not a kayaker. i can paddle nearly any style of canoe or kayak, save for the purest olympic boats, and do so very well. i like them all, understand them and their appeal, their utility. i happen to own a few boats of a certain style, but love all paddling, and the opportunities they offer. a paddler is a waterman/waterwoman. a kayaker is someone who only paddles kayaks, likely has one, either a ww or sea kayak of one type, has little understanding or appreciation for other paddle propelled craft. theirs is a small limiting world of water and boats. i know plenty of kayakers, few paddlers. when i'm heading for the water, i'm going paddling, no matter what boat i'm reaching for. i am not a kayaker. Damiano, not knocking you, i suspect you are saying something similar with different words, perhaps it's a matter of semantics.
Rudder is my choice
Learn to paddle without the rudder or skeg, then when you need it deploy it. I have a QCC700 and don’t have mushy pegs, but on my SOT 15’ Bimini they are. I don’t use them often but I can, Better to have a rudder and not need it, than don’t have one and need it. (weather cocking, current or tides)
Just my humble thoughts on the situation.
Canoeists next?
Nice to know that there are paddling gods among us, but the question was about a skeg or a rudder hence all about kayaks. Not sure what the paddler or kayaker thing does to help the OPer decide about the Impex boat.
I suppose someone who calls themselves a canoeist in a post here also lives in a “small limiting world of water and boats.” ?
Just behind the left ear will do nicely.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. A baby seal walks into a club…
if a rudder skeg posting
doesn’t quickly spiral into a philosophical debate, what good is that? my original posting was that this thread would be short, and free of vitriol. so far i’ve only bombed on the one count…
right on the money
JBV, it is like that. It’s all good. It’s nice to see a paddler on the water and it’s great to watch a sea kayaker in the surf. Since paddling a boat requires skill and energy, the sport generally attracts strong characters and that sometimes leads to opinionated views on the sport itself. Since my style of paddling finds me often in the surf zone I have worked out that a ruddered boat does not work for me (after countless rudders that got ripped off by the waves). If I had to paddle calm waters and if my goal was pure efficiency, speed and the least amount of energy required for the given task, of course I would be paddling a ruddered boat, possibly with a rather long waterline.
Gnarlydog
variation on a theme
What’s a seal’s least favorite drink?
Canadian club!