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in article , John Fereira at
wrote on 9/22/05 7:00 PM:

KMAN wrote in
:

One other issue...maybe he's a great paddler but needs a new kayak. A
relevant consideration to successful paddling without the artificiality
of a rudder to compensate for steering problems is the way the boat
responds to difficult conditions. For example, does the bow try to turn
into the wind, or does it blow downwind?

For the New Zealand trip and the circumnavigation of Iceland he (Chris Duff)
did with two others I know he was paddling a NDK Romany Explorer. For the
circumnavigation of Ireland, the rest of the British Isle and the northeast
US (starting in NY, going down the coast, *up* the Mississippi and Missouri
rivers, through the great lakes and out the St. Lawrence river and back to
NYC) he was paddling a VCP Nordkapp. Those boats are considered by many to
be a couple of the most seaworthy sea kayaks ever made. Neither was
equipped with a rudder so he was relying on his skills when encountering
difficult conditions. You might want to read Chris's books "On Celtic
Tides" and "Southern Exposure" for a description as to just how difficult
those conditions were. The point is that even though Chris is one of the
best open water paddlers in the world he isn't claiming that he would ever
develop enough skills to handle conditions that would severly limit his
ability to maintain a desired course.

Well if you think a rudder is going to save you from a tsunami, you are
dreaming. Whatever these conditions would be that it was impossible for an
expert to paddle, I'd say the rudder isn't going to be the lifesaving
difference. And I would have to say manipulating a rudder would be the last
thing on your mind when trying to maintain a brace against whatever hellish
nightmare you were encountering.