sure

Posted by LeeG on Jul 20, 2007

depends on the kayak and skeg.

From what I've seen of production kayaks and some s&g designs it's a dart throw somewhere aft of the hatch opening letting the adjustable skeg adjust for optimum function. In other words if it's far aft not much skeg is required, if it's closer to the cockpit more is needed. I'd put it somewhere between the stern and the hatch opening,,maybe 2' forward of the stern but if you want more accesible space a 1' forward of the stern would work. The skeg is primarily to compensate for weathercocking and not a tracking aid. If you or your kayak have a hard time keeping a course down wave that's a whole other kettle of fish that may not be addressed with a skeg. Nick Schade puts the skeg in his Petrel off the centerline to reduce jamming with rocks. It works. Necky made a kayak called an Elaho with an external drop skeg off the stern,,didn't stop the weathercocking but it did make the kayak harder to turn and slower to turn upwind. Current Designs has a plastic kayak called a Scirocco with a skeg that will just barely stop weathercocking. In other words what folks are optimizing isn't always what happens on the water. Someone designed the hull, someone designed the skeg, and someone put the skeg somewhere in the hull leaving the rest of us to find out whether it works ok.

In Response to: Skeg Location by RichP on Jul 19, 2007

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