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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
Re: Awww Brian
Posted By: Ken Brunton In Response To: Re: Awww Brian (liv2padl)
Date: Wednesday, 15 February 2006, at 7:05 p.m.
My guess? Because they prefer to do so. Different strokes for different folks. The people you mention, and many more, have the experience and skill to do what feels right for them and for the boats and conditions in which they paddle. To infer from that that 'rudders are not good' or to infer from the fact that essentially every serious flat and open water racer uses them that 'rudders are always good' are both mistakes in my opinion. What disturbed me about Brian's posting was the message that inexpert boaters in inefficient hulls should not use rudders so that they would be forced to develop appropriate skills. I think that position is both unwise and dangerous. Rudders are tools, skegs are tools, boat handling skills are tools, as are boats, paddles, etc. I have somewhere around 12 1/2 boats with and without rudders and a selection of paddles from a top end wing to a Greenland stick I carved from construction lumber. None are 'best', but each one suits some set of conditions and personal moods better than the others.
Now I'm gonna declare a unilateral cease fire on this particular religious war and go paddle. Today I think I'll take the flatwater K1 and the wing paddle and go scare the crap out of myself in some wind and chop.
: while you make alot of sense, i would wonder then why the worlds best (most
: skilled) paddler do not use rudders nor kayaks that come equipped with
: rudders. Nigel Foster, Nigel Dennis, Chris Duff to name a few, have
: paddled some pretty serious seas on some major expeditions without benefit
: of rudder.
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