I love sailing my kayaksailor on Long Island Sound. But I have found that when a 15 kt gust hits I often need to headup fast in order to keep from going over. Bracing with the paddle on the leeward side makes things worse. Also, riding the small waves is a thrill, but should be even more fun with a rudder. Wish my arms were longer. Hi Woody, Glad to hear that you are enjoying the sailing!
It is fun. Yes, heading up can ease the pressure in the sail, also sheeting out. Whenever we brace while sailing we lean to windward with our paddle. Bracing to leeward only causes more heeling.
That said, standard bracing can be effective while sailing downwind on a dead run. Agreed, the rudder should help with your wave riding. And I know what you mean, installing a rudder can be frustrating at times.
December 3rd, by David There has been a crazy rudder debate going on among certain kayakers for decades. First the disadvantages: Rudders are mechanical things that can fail.
Hmm… Have I left anything out? Now for the advantages of rudders: They provide additional steering by using your feet!
Please feel free to leave a comment. And Happy Sailing! Stay tuned…. Thanks for the comment. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Comment Name Email Website. Search for:. Thanks eh I am purchasing a Pelican Unisom tandem Is there a rudder unit that will work on it and how much is it.
New Video Yaaay! A skeg tends to be shorter than a rudder and can generally only be deployed or retracted. And some skegs may not be able to move at all. A skeg is generally there to help you track straight as it can give the back of your vessel more contact with the water. A rudder can be swiveled to help compensate for sideways winds or currents and allow you to head in the direction you plan to go.
A skeg can also help when paddling in wind or current but because it can only be raised up and down, it may not have as much effect as a rudder might in the same conditions. The moving parts on a rudder could also become damaged, for example, from sand or salt that could get trapped inside the mechanisms and cause it get clogged and stop working.
While rudders are generally not designed to steer your vessel, they can help in steering. But this can have a negative effect on some less experienced paddlers, as the rudder can often be relied upon too heavily when paddling techniques could be utilized instead.
Deploy the rudder using the foot pedals or hand controls in your cockpit. You can then use the steering mechanism to dictate which direction you want your kayak to go. For example, if the wind is coming from the left, deploy the rudder on the right hand side and this should help you paddle straight. The side where the rudder is deployed is the direction that the kayak will begin to turn.
So turning right when the the wind is coming from the left, will help your bow to turn right. But in strong wind, this is likely to just counteract the effect of the wind , making it stay straight rather than turning left into the wind.
Some kayaks are made with rudder-ready sterns, which means they have been designed with rudder installations in mind and will often have mounting points and holes to make attaching a rudder easier.
This can be helpful if you want to use specific rudder kits that may require additional parts. However, you may be able to purchase the extra parts separately to help you install it on non-rudder ready kayaks.
You could also get creative and custom make your own mount. Attach your rudder mounting bracket to the stern of your kayak. Make sure the screws are tight once you have the bracket in place. Attach the rudder to the mounting bracket. It should slide into the bracket so that you can then secure it using the lock ring underneath.
If your yak is rudder-ready you should already have the holes installed in the side of your vessel for this. Secure the lines into the drilled holes using the hardware that can allow the ropes to move freely. This is so that you can lift and deploy the rudder blade. Once the ropes are installed and are attached to the rudder, make sure that you can lift the blade up with one side of the rope and deploy it with the other.
The ropes should basically form an elongated loop from the rudder to the cockpit. The lifting line should be tight when the rudder is in the stowed position, then you can secure the line and then cut off the excess. If you already have foot braces on your kayak, you may need to uninstall them to reinstall them using the supplied hardware. This is so that you can control the rudder using your foot pedals. Secure the cable to the relevant part of the rudder and feed it through the holes on the back of your kayak so that it comes through at the cockpit.
This line can then be secured to your foot brace pedal. Repeat the process for the other side of your kayak. Now that your lines are in place and connected to your foot pedals you can now tighten them up using the screws at the rudder, securing them and cutting off the excess line.
Check to make sure that all your controls work and you should be good to go. To install a rudder on a trolling motor , you should wrap the clamps around the shaft of your trolling motor.
This should lock the rudder in place. How Rudders Work: There is more drag on the side of the kayak that the rudder is turned to, thus slowing that side of the kayak, while the other side maintains its rate of speed. While a rudder makes "steering" easy, it is in fact consuming your hard won forward momentum, thus making you work harder to get from point A to point B. Of course this is like the power steering in your car, it draws power from the engine so you don't have to "muscle" the steering wheel, but the gas mileage is less.
Like power steering many folks will find this a good trade off. The rudder, for use with kayaks, is a relatively new innovation. The Inuit originators of the kayak did not use rudders on their kayaks. Significant numbers of kayak paddlers today adhere to that traditional simplicity of going rudderless.
They also may be looking to save those extra calories wasted on drag. Indeed most kayaks do not need a rudder. Proper use of paddling stokes can provide all the control of your boat that you need.
So, in effect skills can replace hardware. You will see that many kayaks on the market have a rudder option, or even come with a rudder as part of the standard package. A few kayak models have a skeg option. A skeg is a fixed blade that does not move, kind of like a surfboard fin. Many of the rudderless traditionalist like a skeg to help their kayak track on a straight course, and some, as above, like both. Do you want or need a rudder? That question can be answered based on what kind of kayak, how that kayak will be used and in what conditions.
Other factors will involve the skill level of the paddler and their personal preference. In simple terms, for average paddlers who are novice to intermediate, you can follow these guidelines: Those who wish to paddle on open water exposed to wind and waves will likely want a rudder.
The longer the kayak is the more likely a rudder is standard equipment. The more time you invest in learning paddle strokes and skills the less you may want a rudder.
It would be helpful to review: "Paddling Straight. Rather than a five minute ride around a pond, it would be wise to try a new kayak out in real life conditions. The best way to do this would be in a guided tour or kayak lesson setting where you have a chance to try several kayaks, with rudders, or not, in various waters. This way you can assess how the kayak handles. Lift up the rudder and go without. Drop it down and see how the rudder functions. Try rudder up and down in a variety of wind, wave and current directions.
Bear in mind that some rental and tour companies do not use rudders due to the extra wear and tear these boats receive. Photo: Demo Day Fun at Turner Falls, MA Some kayak models can have the rudder added at a later date; other models must be installed by the manufacture. Consider your ability to do this sort of job at home or your access to skilled kayak technicians at a shop. While one can say that you can add a rudder later if you feel that you need one, a rudder installation is one of the more complicated modifications that can be made to a kayak.
You may in fact decide to buy the rudder with the kayak and then feel that it is not necessary to use most of the time, but it will be there for you when needed, if not by you, then maybe some one borrowing your boat. Choosing A Kayak With Rudders In Mind I know of an arctic long distance wilderness kayaker who insists on having a rudder on his kayak, but he only uses it "seven percent" of the time!
His reasoning is that a rudder requires harder work, and thus he burns more calories food. Re-supply of his food is far and few above the Arctic Circle, and he can only carry so much in a kayak. So he does not use his rudder because of the drag. But when the winds and waves are working against him a rudder can in fact save calories by making steering easier.
Photos below courtesy Johnson Outdoor. A considerable many kayak models have no rudder option at all. OK Frenzy left.
The main bulk of these are recreational kayaks that are shorter and more maneuverable. While recreational kayaks are easy to turn they are often harder to keep straight. Considering a rudder is best used to keep the kayak straight, it is funny that they do not make rudders, or at least skegs, available for these shorter kayaks.
Bear in mind that "rec" kayaks are not intended for use on open water. The designers of these boats are counting on the fact that you will be paddling in fair weather on clam waters, not far from shore. The categories of surf kayaks and white water kayaks will not feature rudders either, with one exception. Surf kayaks and wave skis will often have a skeg or several skegs mounted toward the stern on the hull, just like surfboards and water skis.
Perception's Five-0 pictured right. The Wave Witch, a surf kayak that often defies classification due to it revolutionary, visionary even, design, features a through-hull rudder and in some cases skegs too! This kayak has a foot control mechanism that resembles the steering of those go-carts we made as kids, only hi-tech. White water kayaks do not have rudders, nor will you see skegs on them either. Touring kayaks, sometimes called sea kayaks, are the boats that you will most likely see rudders on.
You may find that a rudder is standard equipment on most that you will see. These kayaks are made for open water travel and are built to handle wind, waves and currents.
Touring kayaks are about 13 to 18 feet in length; surf skis can be as long as 20 feet or more. A common size of the classic sea kayak is about 15 to 17 feet.
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