Re: skeg design question

Posted by Dave Houser on Feb 7, 2006

The advantage of a skeg that is spring (or bungie)loaded down and held up with a flexible cord is it will push up when paddling over an object and avoid breaking the skeg or kinking the push wire. In addition to avoiding breakage, rudders are spring loaded down to self clear snagged kelp. A lot of rudders are broken when not retracted during a beach landing if the kayak gets washed backwards down the wet sand.

There is a beach out there somewhere that will have the size of sand pebbles that will jam your skeg. Having access to the rigging is an advantage when is is time to clear the jam. However in addition to creating visual clutter, rigging on the rear deck is always a pain during cowboy self rescues.

I prefer a wind neutral boat to a deployable skeg or rudder.

In Response to: skeg design question by Jamie on Feb 6, 2006

Replies:

• Re: skeg design question by Jamie on Feb 7, 2006
  • Re: skeg design question by Dave Houser on Feb 7, 2006
    • Re: skeg design question by Jamie on Feb 8, 2006