: I am now wondering about fitting my current build [Petrel] with
: two, side by side, retracting skegs to make the internal volume
: more clobber friendly and give me more work to do and delay my
: paddling fun.I noticed John had thought of having his skeg one
: inch off the center line,presumably to reduce the incidence of
: gravel jams.I don't think one inch would make any difference but
: maybe 6 inches might.I don't expect any advantage around this
: issue.Just for clobber loading reasons.
: I intend to have the two skegs lined up parallel to the center line
: and also plumb rather than perpendicular to the surfaces they
: sprout from.Also I intend for them to be diminished in size but
: only by, say, 2/3.At the position I intend to put them
: approximately [30% length from stern stem] the hull has almost
: vertical sides so the skeg boxes would be a snug fit out there.
: Has any one got any thoughts or trepidations about this idea?Apart
: from the madness and extra work,which I know about already.
: Cheers, from Paul NZ.

Just use one, the offset off the centerline you'll never notice. I for years sailed a little daysailer with leeboards, one on each side and very rarely ever changed boards, just used the first one I lowered and these were 4 feet apart, very difficult to tell even then.

Yes it's more efficient with the board on the correct side used, but it's drag on a kayak so it's not efficient in the first place and usually it's very windy with lots of chop when you're using it, so efficiency really isn't the issue.

One is far easier and will cause lots fewer problems with building and use.

Bill H.