Same in Northern Australia. While there are sea kayaks available without rudders, they are regarded as playboats only and not for serious trips. The only boats with skegs I have seen locally are short plastic sit-on-tops. We do tend to do a lot of camping trips, and certainly that is where my interest lies.

The whole "expertise" thing seems to me to be over-rated, and carries no weight over here. Sure an "expert" may be able to drive a conventional two-wheel drive car over some pretty difficult country, but decrying the undeniable benefits available form anti-lock brakes, 4-wheel drive, independant traction control, etc, simply makes the "expert" a luddite. He or she is free to stick with the less-able car/craft, but that choice does not make them more "expert", and the average Aussie is quick to scoff at any claim to the contrary.

The only downsides from rudders are a degree of fragility, greater drag when deployed and increased windage when up on deck. With a well built and fully integrated rudder such as I prefer, there is very little fragility, and no windage as it is permanently deployed. The slight increase in drag is more than offset by the ease of maintaining direction.

I do not regard the rudder pedals as a disadvantage as I simply cannot imagine why people persist with the sliding pedal arrangement. A fixed (or more correctly, an adjustable) footbrace with hinged rudder pedals allows firm bracing in the boat while still operating the rudder. In addition they are easier to build, and easier to fit. They do take a little more time to adjust for a paddler of different stature, but how often does that occur?

I should note that inside the Barrier Reef serious surf is non-existant, so I am unable to say whether that has an impact on the dominance of rudders.

Cheers, Tony Bligh