JohnAbercrombie
Paddler
A friend recently bought a brand new kayak, which has a rudder. From a well-known Canadian company....
When we were looking at it on the beach yesterday, it seemed to me that it was installed improperly.
(Unfortunately, I don't have pictures or many specific details for you - yet...more to follow..)
The rudder didn't have much in the way of brand labels, but it looked to me like a Smart Track - type rudder. It had a coil spring trapped in the blade, a molded knob on one side of the 'axle' and a locking pin on the other.
It is rigged so that the single line to the jam cleat is a 'downhaul' - it pulls the rudder down into the water. The spring flips the rudder out of the water and up on to the deck when the control line is released from the jam cleat.
This means that the rudder has no 'kick up' capability (aside from stretching or breaking the control line).
Questions:
Isn't this 'backwards?
Do any of the Smart Track rudders flip 270 degrees to lay parallel to the deck?
I'll have more details next week when the owner is back in town, and I can have another look at the kayak.
I'm not a rudder expert; my Panthera has a SmartTrack 'Race' rudder which doesn't lay down on the deck when retracted.
Help!
When we were looking at it on the beach yesterday, it seemed to me that it was installed improperly.
(Unfortunately, I don't have pictures or many specific details for you - yet...more to follow..)
The rudder didn't have much in the way of brand labels, but it looked to me like a Smart Track - type rudder. It had a coil spring trapped in the blade, a molded knob on one side of the 'axle' and a locking pin on the other.
It is rigged so that the single line to the jam cleat is a 'downhaul' - it pulls the rudder down into the water. The spring flips the rudder out of the water and up on to the deck when the control line is released from the jam cleat.
This means that the rudder has no 'kick up' capability (aside from stretching or breaking the control line).
Questions:
Isn't this 'backwards?
Do any of the Smart Track rudders flip 270 degrees to lay parallel to the deck?
I'll have more details next week when the owner is back in town, and I can have another look at the kayak.
I'm not a rudder expert; my Panthera has a SmartTrack 'Race' rudder which doesn't lay down on the deck when retracted.
Help!
Last edited: