thoughts on PA12 steering/rudder...

so I have maybe 20 hours on the water now in my PA12 (anyone in contact with Pelagic, please let him know how much I love this boat!) and I spent 5 hours today in the Siuslaw tidewater, up and down from Florence marina, covered 8.3miles per my GPS, getting a feel for the boat in water with moving tide/current conditions and as a bonus, the wind came up and I got to also work in 1-2 foot wind waves (just starting to get whitecaps).  absolutely fantastic, with PA12 seat in low position it felt solid as a rock, upper seat position felt more wobbly, carefully stood up several times to stretch my legs without any real concern....

I do have some thoughts now on the steering behavior, no surprise, it all comes down to speed through the water.  Moving into the current (good water speed), hard rudder to do a 360 and as you swing around about 180 and lose all your water speed, you stop turning.  It reminds me of how a lifting airfoil (wing) stalls at below a certain air speed and all but stops generating lift.   To get 'turning force' from the rudder, you need water speed.

this is in contrast to using a paddle, where you can generate turning force with each stroke regardless of your water speed....

so I am left to consider that a modification that adds turning force at lower water speeds (wider/longer rudder) might be nice but might also make the rudder effect overly sensitive at higher water speeds.   worth experimenting with but perhaps not much gain to be made....

and I am about to hang a 34# minnkota off one side of my PA12 which will add another variable to my boats behavior...so expect more brain droppings from me on boat dynamics in the future...

as for fishing, the SRC do not appear to have entered the Siuslaw, word is we should see them after the next good rain event....cheers, roger

I installed a custom longer/wider rudder and it significantly improves turning responsiveness. I haven't noticed it being any tippier on a hard turn than before. It does not improve the tracking. Only improvement I have figured in that dept is to install a tiller in the right side so you can steer with whichever hand is free.

I do have some thoughts now on the steering behavior, no surprise, it all comes down to speed through the water.  Moving into the current (good water speed), hard rudder to do a 360 and as you swing around about 180 and lose all your water speed, you stop turning.  It reminds me of how a lifting airfoil (wing) stalls at below a certain air speed and all but stops generating lift.   To get 'turning force' from the rudder, you need water speed.

this is in contrast to using a paddle, where you can generate turning force with each stroke regardless of your water speed....

Yeah, no surprise there.  Even with a paddle, it you want to turn quick with a rudder, get your kayak moving forward.  The rudder will do the rest.  I can't believe how often I see someone with a rudder trying to turn from a dead start by paddling on one side.  Your rudder isn't helping you much here.  Paddle forward stroking on both sides with your rudder hard over!

-Allen