I'm in the market to purchase a new sea kayak. While doing my research, i came across two types to stearing systems, a skeg and a rudder. I've used rudders before, but never a skeg. I guess my question is, what is the purpose of a skeg, are they really nessesary if you already have a rudder? I also read some place, that a skeg has attendancy to malfunction, allowing water to enter your boat is this true?
I guess my next question would be, if you were going to buy a sea kayak and wanted to load your boat up and go camping with it. What type of boat would you buy and which company or companys would you go with?
I've been looking at boats from eddyline and own two kayaks made by Necky. I know that there are tons of companys out there that make kayaks. Im just not really sure where to look, other than at your local kayak stores. I guess i would like to start taking to people and see which companys are good and which ones are not. Seeing is that i have NO experience in this, I was hoping that you, the Kayakers community could help me out.

thanks!

You didn't say whether you are looking for plastic, or composite. My advice is to take a little trip down to Tacoma and check out the NC Kayaks. They are simply the best built kayaks I have ever seen and you don't have to worry about skegs, or rudders. NC advises that neither are required on their boats.

I prefer the British style kayaks for their looks and maneuverabilty. Most of them use a skeg and by the way it isn't for steering, it is used to counter the natural tendency for the boat to turn into the wind, or current. That is also the primary purpose of a rudder.

As I indicated, my first inquiry would be to NC Kayaks (they have a nice Website) and then I would be comparing Current Designs, Valley, Wilderness, Eddyline, Seaward, and on and on. In the end, you will most likely have to pick from those that are available to you, so that a proper demo can be arranged. By all means, try as many boats on as you can.

My choice for a sea kayak is a CD Sirocco. This is a magnificent boat that has more capabilities than I will ever master, but I hope to someday add an NC Expedition to my stable.

Have fun looking and it might be instuctive to go to Paddling net and read a lot of reviews. However, don't be either persuaded, or disuaded by what you read. You will have to find a boat that fits you and your needs and that's the fun of it.

Seems like this is one of those topics that could be debated forever. I, personally, have a Wilderness Systems Tempest 170 that has a skeg. I like it, but try to NOT depend on the skeg entirely. It is handy when there is a stiff cross wind, but even when there is I only use it part of the time. I don't want to get so dependent on it and not know how to handle a situation where something happens and it jams and will not deploy. I have tried a few kayaks with rudders and do not care for them. Somewhat for the same reason, not wanting to get dependent on it. Also, I don't feel like I have a solid "footing" for more powerful paddling.

That all said - try out what you can. Skeg / Rudder / Neither and see what you like. The best time to try them is in the wind when you think you need the rudder or skeg. I wish I could have tried more different boats, but there aren't many available around here. But, I am happy with the one I have and hope that I can wear it out.

Not much experience with a skeg.
Seems to me that a rudder has more flexibility in how you would use it and in what conditions.

I wouldn't pick a boat because it did, or didn't have a rudder; there are other considerations that are far more important. My thought is that for whatever additional flexibilty that a rudder might afford, the extra cables and controls are likely to cause some problems. As I said before, I prefer the British style and I've never encountered any situation where I would have wanted a rudder. That said, I would not turn away from a boat with a rudder. My sister just bought a very nice boat that came with a rudder--on my recommendation. She thinks the boat is great and by the way, she has yet to use the rudder.

The history of rudders & skegs has several stages. In the 1980's, many designers of hardshell kayaks tried to persuade us that their designs were perfect, and needed neither skegs nor rudders--any handling problems that you encountered with their boats was YOUR FAULT. Rudders were, especially, an abomination in their eyes--always breaking, jamming, interfering with rescues, etc., and preventing people from learning how to paddle. The great embarrassment to these designers was the paddling career of Kiwi sea kayaker Paul Caffyn, who circled New Zealand's forbidding shoreline and tempestuous waters in a skeg-equipped Nordkapp, and then put a rudder on it and circled Australia. He said he never could have completed the trip without the rudder. More rudders began to appear on boats.

The designers then discovered retractable skegs. Here was the answer with which to trump the hated, loathesome rudder. Lots and lots of boats began being made with retractable skegs, and still are. They're great, but a lot of paddlers have found their skegs jamming in their housings, clogged by sand and gravel, or their cables wearing and fraying and breaking. I remember one trip where 3 out of the 6 or 7 paddlers with me jammed their skegs one way or another, and had to hit the beach or otherwise get somebody to help deploy the skeg.

Meanwhile, rudders have also continued to appear on boats, and, as far as my experience goes over 24 years of paddling a ruddered boat and with other ruddered boats, I have only very rarely witnessed a rudder jamming, or failing to deploy--maybe twice? But since in many quarters rudders are still regarded with disdain and loathing, when people ask me if I have a rudder on my boat, I say Oh No; I have a stern-mounted, foot-controlled, variable-azimuth, retractable skeg, and it works just great! Never jams; never fails to deploy.

On a more serious note--Every kayak I've owned or own has been retrofitted by me with both a non-retractable, permanent skeg, usually of solid oak, AND a good rudder. The skegs are just big enough to ensure that the boat will glide in a straight line; the rudder I deploy only during difficult quartering winds and for twisting salt-marsh creeks, overall maybe 10% of my time on the water. My rudders are all controlled by toe pedals mounted to rigid, immovable footrests, or by homemade T-bars that I pivot with my toes while my heels remain anchored firmly againt the base of the T-bar assembly. The effectiveness of this configuration was recently demonstrated (again) when, during a difficult 4-nautical-mile passage into and beam-to measured 20-knot winds and horizon-high chop, I easily maintained my course, while my skilled, experienced companion found himself repeatedly struggling to maintain his position in his rudderless but skeg-equipped craft.

Rudders are or can be, in my opinion, a useful item on many sea kayaks--the key is to rely on them ONLY intermittantly, as essentially variable-attitude skegs to ease long crossings with strong quartering winds, or for negotiating twisty, narrow channels and creeks. Their critics are correct in warning against their being used as a substitute for proper boat-handling skills, and paddlers becoming dependant upon them.

Carl W (Strange Magic)

I guess I'll be fine with my deployable skegs, since I don't ever drag my boats on the beach and I'm not planning a circumnavigation of Australia.

My point 65 north XP has a rudder and a skeg and also paddles very well with neither deployed.In fairly calm water( up to 1.5 mtr swell with wind chop ) you can vary how much skeg you drop down to suit the conditions .In rough water dropping it all the way down steadies the boat and increases stability.But when it gets really rough (over 2mtr swell and strong winds) I use the rudder for better control ,also if you are using a sail the rudder is almost a necessity.As well on most skegs you will notice a small hole on the lower edge for tying a thin piece of cord to so if the skeg sticks ,you paddling partner can reach under and give it a tug to unstick it .But both rudders and skegs do cause drag and the boat paddles a lot faster without them being used.

For almost all paddling that I do, the added drag of skeg and/or rudder is negligible, yet I find the benefits are substantial. Many of the big circumnavigations (Australia, the British Isles, for example) have been accomplished in boats with rudders (Nordkapps).

I'm not arguing with you brother,but I have the best of both worlds,skeg and rudder or neither. Current research showed that having a rudder caused a drag coefficent of 3%,but if you are paddling a boat where you have to do sweep stokes or brace stokes you will be a lot more than 3% inefficent.Using a rudder and a more stable boat allows you to concentrate on paddling technique to achieve speed and efficency of effort.Visit the Epic website and read what Barton and Chuplitschy have to say about it.

Yeah, I have to agree with wavehog; I tend not to overuse my skeg, but when you need it, you need it and it doesn't noticably slow the boat. As I said before, I prefer the deployable skeg over a rudder, but I wouldn't totally rule out a ruddered boat.

I do think some further refining of the skeg slot should be done to reduce drag to an absolute minimum. I haven't had the chance to try a boat with the high aspect (verticle) skeg, but that might be as slick as a skeg can get in regard to minimizing the slot. However, if it isn't as effective as the more common skeg, then it may not be worth it.

Hey,magooch,If you want to see something really interesting ,have a look at the new Lettman kayaks .They have a drop down skeg/rudder. If you only drop it down a bit it's a skeg,if you drop it all the way down it's a totally underslung rudder like o the ocean racing skis and some K1s.Check it out.

Will do, wavehog.

Hey wavehog, I had a look and some of those boats look interesting. That new fangled rudder might catch on if it isn't too spendy and if it doesn't damage easily. I don't think I would like the slot in the stern. I like very sharp, clean ends on a boat.

Then there are the NC Kayaks that require no skeg and no rudder. Check em out; they are the best built and prettiest boats I've ever seen, but they are a handful to turn without putting them right up on their edge. Unless something else comes along, I might just end up with their 19 footer for long distance stuff, but I'll never give up my Sirocco for pure fun.

Nice looking boats,look fast.