DIY Kayak Rudder

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Luvenia Waiters - 6 years ago

Nice, nice, very nice. However you can make it yourself. Just google woodprix and learn how to do it easily.

Steve - 6 years ago

How did you seal the rudder attachment?

Michael Towler - 7 years ago

I don't get the bit about the rudder controls I have a Mirage 583, before that a Profisher525 and a Malibou x-13 and they all turned to the same side as your foot control. You need to have your Rudder at 6/8 inch below the waterline then the Paddle doesn't get used to steer at all .

PaulyC8879 - 8 years ago

Excellent video. Nice job!

Fly Oz - 8 years ago

The deeper the rudder the more effective why not leave off the top wooden par and just have a vertical rod with a n oval wood rudder at the end. This could even be adjusted?

tubesockets120v - 8 years ago

simply smart

phartattack - 8 years ago

Dude, you have pedals, why didn't you remove the snap and use them?
Whats funny is that you seem proud of this ridiculous mess you made. I give you this... IT WORKS!
But, Dayummmm! Loks like $H!+

I'm Grateful - 9 years ago

Uberfy -- Outstanding design on your rudder and sail rig! I built a sail rig for an inexpensive Sevylor Tahaiti inflatable kayak that worked reasonably well but I added dagger boards. I could adjust the dagger boards to various postions using stainless clevis pins through the 1 1/4" PVC and through the 1 " PVC arms attached to the dagger boards. In real sailboats you want your dagger board or center board up when sailing downwind, in the middle position for crosswinds and all the way down when sailing close hauled into the wind. The 1 1/4 PVC pipe ran the width of the boat to serve as receivers for the dagger board arms of 1" PVC.
I made outriggers out of two large swimming Noodles I bought at the dollar store for $1 each. They were about 4' long. The center hole was perfect for 1" PVC. I cut the Noodles to 3' and tapered the ends forward and aft then cut a section out of the center which allowed me to install two pieces of 1" PVC with a tee in the middle. I glued the noodles to the PVC then glued the Noodle section I had cut out back in place after cutting a hole in the foam by hand with a 1" inch circle cutter. I glued a 6" piece of PVC into each tee then added an elbow on the other end. I then glued a 4' section of 1" PVC to the elbow. I used a 1 1/4" piece of PVC as a receiver like I did with the paddle boards then slid the outrigger arms into the receivers about 14 inches or half the width of my kayak. The outriggers are held in place with clevis pins and I can adjust their length to extend them an additional 7 inches by sliding them out.
After a couple of sails, I reduced the length of the outrigger arms to 3 feet to give me a little more heel when under sail.
All of this stuff is attached to a PVC frame which also is used as a mast step and rigging support. It has all worked well. In fact, the only thing that did not work well was the sail rig, itself.
I gave up on building an effective sail rig out of PVC and eventually bought an aluminum rig from Sailboats-to-Go and it has worked extremely well. I found the PVC rig, even when reinforced, was too flexible to be efficient.
The biggest problem I have now is that the natural flexibility of the inflatable boat causes the boat itself to twist in any wind above 7-8 mph. Up to that speed, it works really well and is quite fast. I do use an oar for a rudder because there's is no way to attach a permanent rudder. It's also attached to a PVC frame held to the boat by belts.
Don't know how far along you are with your plans for outriggers and some sort of dagger board arrangement but you'll find your sailing more exciting and safer once you get them done.
Good luck!!!

deltafour1212 - 8 years ago

+I'm Grateful you wouldn't happen to have picture of your rig would you?

thaSpirit f - 9 years ago

Genius. This is the one I was looking for.

10. comment for DIY Kayak Rudder

Miguel Sanchez El Aventurero de P. R. - 9 years ago

Love it... Simple and effective.

mocatx - 10 years ago

Love it simple but effective

bnhmisthaman 4 life!! - 10 years ago

you should add a spring to the cross bar in the front to keep your rudder straight when not in use. if you drilled a hole on the top of each elbow and put an eye bolt through it, and the put an eye bolt on the back sides of the bar and put a spring in between there, would work perty goood.

phartattack - 8 years ago

+bnhmisthaman 4 life!! Yeah, add more shit to the mess already made!

bluehealerfirefighte - 11 years ago

Good design, However just an FYI, the hole in the rear of the boat is not for an "anchor rope" It is for rudder designed for the kayak. And the grove is so that the rudder can flip up for when you beach the kayak or your moving through shallow water and want to stowe the rudder. NEVERTHELESS, great design, great weekend project!!!

waterandflight - 11 years ago

I salute your creativity! Of course, no doubt, there will be version, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 etc. Great to see people using brainpower, and having fun with it. As an ex Pro sailor, I once again salute you, sir. Great job!

Bustin Feelsgood - 11 years ago

Btw that groove in the back isn't for a rope to pass through for the anchor, its for a $200-$300 rudder to fold up into that you and me don't want to buy. xD Anchor trollies on the side all the way bro.

wrybread - 11 years ago

Judging by the fact that pushing your right foot to turn right felt unnatural, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you've never used a regular rudder setup before. I wonder if you should try one to see if you get any ideas from it? But either way, I thoroughly salute your deep spirit of customization and creative engineering. Downright inspirational.

Peter Ratz - 12 years ago

I love the way you tinker with the ruder. Very useful. Please post updates of future developments. And thank you for sharing your experience...Pete

rusty keller - 12 years ago

For sailing across wind (reaching), you do need some sort of a board in the water to prevent the boat from just being blown sideways across the water. Usually a deep keel, swing keel, or dagger board is used. For your kayak, I'd look into making leeboards. A swing up/down board on each side of the hull, putting the downwind side board down into the water. Used for centuries on sailing craft, and may be easier to construct on a plastic kayak. Google leeboards and check it out. Happy Yaking.

uberfy - 12 years ago

No, I'll definitely need to add a daggerboard to be able to tack upwind. That's my next DIY project. The lake where I go most often is only about 1 foot deep in most places, so using a daggerboard there would be difficult.

20. comment for DIY Kayak Rudder

uberfy - 12 years ago

snakeclaw - 12 years ago

nice vid, but like other postings, i do have to ask you....can it tack upwind? i dont see a daggerboard. it seems that you made some serious effort to make this perform like a sailboat. tacking upwind is a big deal for me.

Jamie Allison - 12 years ago

or well then im not trying to nag or anything just saying it for saftey because not long ago when i was kayaking i wasnt wearing one and normally i can swim fine but the cold water shocked me and my mind just went blank and i started to panic and i coudnt get back to shore but if the water wasnt that deep it dosent really matter but thanks for replying to my comment anyway

uberfy - 12 years ago

Good advice. I usually do zip it up. The water in that lake is only a foot deep.

uberfy - 12 years ago

Yeah, I know that now. I figured that out when I was building my second rudder which I can steer with my feet.

Jamie Allison - 12 years ago

there's no point in wearing a pfd if its not zipped up because it will just come straight off your shoulders if you end up swimming

Josef - 13 years ago

Why didn't your kayak come with a rudder like my Hobie?

Dave Robbie - 13 years ago

You come up with some great ideas!

uberfy - 13 years ago

@AlphaInfernoAttack I think technically rudders are to help keep your boat going straight. I use mine to correct my oversteering due to paddling too hard on one side or the other. When I am using my sail, I can use the rudder to steer so I don't have to use my paddle at all.

William Mercer - 13 years ago

what are the rudders for

30. comment for DIY Kayak Rudder

Ricardo Ghirlanda - 13 years ago

I´ll borrow your idea and include a system to prevent spoiling in very low waters... Tks!

Red Fox - 14 years ago

thank you for a great video..before i made my own rudder i end up hitting the dock so many time when trying to turn :) thanks so much for sharing your great ideas.