Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
By:Larry C.
Date: 7/19/2010, 11:44 am
In Response To: Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats (Alex Ferguson)

: Rudder -

: Interesting to see a closeup of the system I stopped using 2
: decades ago. The problem is that when up it catches the wind and
: it can get damaged in surf landings as it doesn't stow well. Oh
: well, the wheel keeps being reinvented...

: The system I went to was first shown at a forum here in 1992 and is
: similar to the one re-invented by KajakSport a decade later and
: 2 decades later by SeaLect (sp?).

: Alex

Hi Alex,
If your refering to this rudder: http://www.gokajaksport.com/Media/navigator.pdf NO THANKS! That system has been around a long time and from my observations has very little following in the US. I have only ever seen it on cheap plastic recreation boats.

Maybe in parts of the world where inovation and technology are slower, it serves a purpose as a simple workable rudder system. I don't deny it may work, but to say it's the only rudder worth looking at, is just plain wrong. There are a lot of rudders available for many purposes. If I was worried about surf landings, I wouldn't have a rudder at all. A skeg would be my choice.

I think the request was for a rudder to use on Nick's Mystery which is a racing/high performance boat. The Smart Track rudder system is made of modern materials and has a Foil shaped blade. There are 3 different size blade housings and 4 different blades available, including a racing specific version. The blades can be changed in seconds without tools. The Stainless Steel spring allows the rudder to "kick-up" if the kayak runs over a rock or log. Also there are several mounting methods allowing the rudder to be as close or far from the stern as desired.

No system is perfect, but I think the Smart Track Rudder is light years ahead of the kayak Sport Rudder, at least for my purposes.

$.02

Larry

Messages In This Thread

Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Will N to Go -- 7/13/2010, 2:02 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/22/2010, 1:21 am
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Larry C. -- 7/18/2010, 5:15 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Larry C. -- 7/18/2010, 5:29 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Larry C. -- 7/18/2010, 5:34 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Alex Ferguson -- 7/19/2010, 5:32 am
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Larry C. -- 7/19/2010, 11:44 am
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/19/2010, 3:23 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Will N to Go -- 7/21/2010, 11:41 am
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Will N to Go -- 7/19/2010, 11:38 am
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Mike Savage -- 7/20/2010, 5:52 am
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Will N to Go -- 7/20/2010, 1:29 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Mike Savage -- 7/20/2010, 7:20 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/20/2010, 2:24 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Will N to Go -- 7/20/2010, 7:36 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/21/2010, 9:21 am
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Larry C. -- 7/21/2010, 1:13 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/21/2010, 8:07 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Will N to Go -- 7/22/2010, 1:21 am
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/22/2010, 9:29 am
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Will N to Go -- 7/22/2010, 12:48 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Larry C. -- 7/22/2010, 6:45 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/22/2010, 2:08 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Will N to Go -- 7/22/2010, 2:27 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Larry C. -- 7/22/2010, 6:54 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/22/2010, 3:29 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *NM*
Bill Hamm -- 7/22/2010, 2:03 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/22/2010, 1:58 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Alex Ferguson -- 7/19/2010, 7:37 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/19/2010, 3:17 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Larry C. -- 7/18/2010, 5:40 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Larry C. -- 7/18/2010, 5:43 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Larry C. -- 7/18/2010, 5:45 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Larry C. -- 7/18/2010, 5:48 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Larry C. -- 7/18/2010, 6:01 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Larry C. -- 7/18/2010, 6:05 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Will N to Go -- 7/18/2010, 6:39 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Larry C. -- 7/19/2010, 1:47 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/19/2010, 3:12 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Larry C. -- 7/19/2010, 6:22 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/19/2010, 7:14 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Larry C. -- 7/20/2010, 12:54 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/20/2010, 2:17 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Larry C. -- 7/20/2010, 1:02 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Larry C. -- 7/20/2010, 1:13 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Malcolm Schweizer -- 7/14/2010, 10:45 am
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Will N to Go -- 7/14/2010, 5:52 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/14/2010, 7:27 am
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Dan Caouette (CSFW) -- 7/14/2010, 10:35 am
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/14/2010, 1:14 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Bill Hamm -- 7/14/2010, 1:22 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Alex Ferguson -- 7/14/2010, 6:04 am
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats
Doug S -- 7/13/2010, 3:48 pm
Re: Strip: Rudders, peddles, seats *PIC*
Dan Caouette (CSFW) -- 7/13/2010, 5:05 pm