: I have a 17ft CLC kayak and am thinking of putting a retractable skeg at the
: stern to give the boat better tracking when paddling in large following
: waves and surfing. The skeg is made by Necky and looks and acts like a
: rudder, except it dosn't swivel of course. Has anyone ever installed and
: used one? I'd appreciate the feedback?

Hey Tom,

I've never installed a skeg but . . I own a Necky Zoar Sport with a skeg. I used the skeg a few times right after I bought the yak, but now I hardly ever lower it into the water - its just along for the ride (like me). The boat tracks very well on the local waters so it isn't necessary.

I'm currently working on my second stripper and neither of them will have a skeg or a rudder. The Guillemot single (my wifes yak) is very responsive to the paddle, but my wife likes it that way. I did add a slight "fin effect" to the stern outer stem piece on the Guillemot "L" that I'm working on now to tighten up the tracking a little. If I see, later, that I don't need it, I'll sand it off and re-glass the area. You can see a photo of the stem treatment in the "Guillemot L" album at the link below.

This isn't a very good pic of the skeg, but, in the up position, it sticks up behind the boat at about a 45 degree angle (not very classy). Its made of light-weight aluminum and it lowers when you release the rope via its own weight. Maybe this will help.

Happy Building.

Charles.