Hello Everyone,

I got the new Seal-Line rudder installed, and it works really well on my 19' kayak. I was able to finally focus on paddling without all those corrective strokes. I wanted to give a review for those that were considering it.

Installation is simple, except for locating the holes for the footbraces. Once you are sure you have them right, however, the braces screw right in. I did opt for the through-hull installation. In order to do that on a strip-built you have to get a screw that is 1/4" longer to compensate for the extra hull thickness. I will say, however, the two screws through the hull are quite annoying. I had to use a different screw head (because of availability) that was a little thicker, so when I get the flatter screws I will replace them and it will look cleaner.

I did find the toe pedal a little awkward at first, but it was very comfortable both barefooted and with hard-soled sandals. I liked being able to keep my feet stationary, but there is a slight technique to using your toes to steer the rudder. I think that's more just a matter of getting used to it. The foot pedals are so easy to adjust, which is great for me because I often switch from shoes to bare feet.

The rudder performs well, even though it's 1/2 the size of a standard flat rudder, because the rudder uses a foil. For those of you concerned about the way the rudder flips straight up instead of laying on the deck, now that I've seen it I wouldn't have it any other way. I can keep my GP on the rear deck without any interference, and the rudder is so small that it doesn't look as bad as you might think... in fact it's kinda cool!

The foot controls come pre-wired, and all you have to do is run the tubing through the hull and run the wire through the tubes. The "cool wedge" system for wedging the wires into the rudder makes it easy to do the primary adjustment, and then there is a screw adjustment for fine-tuning. The whole thing is 90% pre-assembled, and the parts you assemble snap right in. The thing that took me the longest is that being a wood kayak I had to drill the holes oversized, fill with epoxy, and then redrill to the correct size so that no wood was exposed. If this were a plastic yak I could have installed the whole thing in an hour.

Water was rather flat this weekend, so I only got to surf some small waves, but already love it. I can finally control the boat to get a better surf.

For those that were concerned about windage, the rudder when down lies below deck level except for that one little control part. There's no big pully sticking up above the deck. Even when the rudder is up there is less wind resistance, but that doesn't really matter as if it's windy that's when you use the rudder anyway. It springs back well when you hit an obstacle. (I did a test over some shallow rocks.) It raises and lowers easily.

Overall I'd recommend it highly. I will do some rolling practice next weekend and try to put some real strain on the foot pegs to give them a good test.

Cheers,

Malcolm