Comments on: Bow Rudder Picture Book

By: nick

nick — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:12:01 +0000

A post to the last reply. The 2 stokes are different and this is why. The bow rudder as described up the page on this website is a fair weather/make my boat turn nice bow rudder. The stroke describe in the book is a proper bow rudder use to turn up wind in strong winds once your sweep won’t do the job anymore. At that point usually the sea state is not friendly anymore and the stroke more conservative (try to reach forward and plant in choppy seas with 20 knots) and once you have extended your arm to reach forward you have lost all strength in that arm and all your leverage.
Both strokes will turn the boat in fair weather, but the bow rudder in Sea kayaking is designed to turn upwind in strong wind, you need to keep your speed up, edge as much as you feel comfortable with, plant and let boat turn, paddle hard again.
If you want power, never extend your arm completely during any stroke, true for the Stern rudder as well. Happy Paddling,
Nick

By: Haris

Haris — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:07:03 +0000

One seemingly small detail: Doug Cooper clearly states in his book and demonstrates on video that during bow rudder one should not reach as far forward as possible with the live blade. The blade goes into the water vertical at the knees, not the toes. Body is rotated to face the direction of the turn not stretched almost in the opposite direction in order to reach the bow. Position is upright nor bent forward.

It seems to me that the stroke as you described above and the one demonstrated by Doug Cooper should be conceptualized and taught as two different strokes. In your case, the bow rudder name is justified as the stroke attempts to pull the bow in the direction of the blade. Cooper’s version is neither done at the bow nor is it a proper ruddering stroke. The paddle is planted at the beam/gunwale close to the kayak’s longitudinal center of gravity. The role of the active blade is not so much to move the bow as to serve as a pivot point around which the kayak will swing–bow moving in one direction stern in the opposite. Bow rudder, as you describe it, places much more emphasis on anchoring the bow. Cooper’s version treats bow and stern on pretty much equal terms and, instead, capitalizes on the most efficient pivot point to turn the kayak around.

What do you think?

By: MarcP

MarcP — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 07:27:51 +0000

I was always under the impression (because that’s what we were taught late 70′s early 80′s in Montreal, QC) that a “Duffek” is more than a bow-rudder: It’s the bow rudder to turn and pivot on followed by (combined stroke) a strong forward stroke to stop the turn and regain lost speed, as in to round a gate pole. The whole effect in a light-weight WW slalom kayak was a quick 90+ degree turn with almost no loss in speed. Makes for nice smiles, and warm big muscles. It worked awesomely in pool corners where we kept our muscles strong enough to face Spring thaw runs. A Duffek-Draw-Forward stroke will even keep you off the pool edge. Just duck your head for the diving board!

There’s a whowever… just because we were taught that a Duffek was a combined stroke doesn’t make it so, fiendishly geekly speaking!

MarcP

By: Dunks

Dunks — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:24:41 +0000

I am another huge fan of Doug’s book, really superb, concise text, excellent range of images and the addition of the online video clips – I reviewed it here: http://solentseakayaking.co.uk/2009/04/review-sea-kayak-handling-book/

By: derrick

derrick — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:03:25 +0000

thanks all…

Hey JB what’s your commission on those DC books?? LOL!@