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Kayaks & Pad­dles Asia is the only deal­er­ship in Thai­land ded­i­cated to offer­ing top qual­ity inflat­able and skin on frame fold­ing kayaks from inter­na­tional man­u­fac­tur­ers. Whether you seek a  recre­ational or expe­di­tion kayak, we have the model to suit you. We sup­ply qual­ity pad­dles, cor­rectly sized for you and your kayak.

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Recent Posts

Reasons for and Against a Kayak Rudder

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Rea­sons for and Against a Kayak Rudder

New pad­dlers often ask us at Kayaks and Pad­dles Asia (KPA) about rudders.

This is what we have to say about rudders.

Pos­i­tive rea­sons for using a rudder;

  1. The num­ber one func­tion of a rud­der on any kayak weather skin on frame or inflat­able is to keep the kayak run­ning straight. This way one can put all ones energy into pad­dling for­ward rather than mak­ing cor­rect­ing strokes.
  2. To help keep the kayak on track when quar­ter­ing wind, waves and current.
  3. To ori­ent the boat at an angle to a cer­tain point when drift­ing, such as when work­ing a shore­line or river bank if fish­ing or tak­ing wild life photographs.

The pri­mary pur­pose of the rud­der is to keep the boat on track.

Before we list neg­a­tives of a rud­der, we want to point out, the most com­mon thought about rud­ders is that they are to turn the boat. We dis­agree with this. Sure, a rud­der will turn a boat by adding drag on one side or the other which causes the boat to “turn” in that direc­tion. The rud­der drag is the same prin­ci­pal as break­ing a left or right wheel on a trac­tor to turn. Brak­ing slows the boat and requires more energy to keep the boat mov­ing. Turn the rud­der too far and one can lose all for­ward momen­tum. The turn angle should be lim­ited to 20 degrees. Ten degrees is prob­a­bly enough.

 Neg­a­tives of a rudder;

  1.  Well–if you under­stand the pos­i­tives of a rud­der the only neg­a­tives are added weight, drag, and pos­si­bly the com­plex­ity of the equip­ment / set up and the extra time necessary.
  2. Even if cor­rectly set up for a long pad­dle with a pre­vail­ing side wind for exam­ple one leg will be get­ting all the work. If incor­rectly set up for use dur­ing no wind and zero cur­rent, it will leave one leg apply­ing unnec­es­sary effort and can cause back problems.

There you have our basic thoughts on rud­ders. Unless you have a spe­cific rea­son, such as drift ori­en­ta­tion, a rud­der should not be needed on boats under 14 feet. Six­teen feet and above (4.9 mts) can prob­a­bly use a rud­der effectively.

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Gumotex Skeg

 

It is worth not­ing that top inflat­able kayaks as sup­plied by KPA have either attach­able or built-in Skegs (track­ing fin) these keep you going straight and work very well indeed.