With sail-and-oar boats it’s common to use the rudder while sailing and remove it, retract it, or let it trail, idle, while rowing. There are times when a rudder can be an asset while you’re at the oars.The Gokstad faering I built for a 1,000-mile row up the Inside Passage of British Columbia and Alaska was a very well-mannered boat, but with two of us rowing I often found myself pulling harder on one side to maintain a straight course. It’s all too easy to assume it’s the other rower who’s making the corrections necessary, but leveling accusations against a partner isn’t good for crew morale. I made a small rudder especially for rowing and connected its tiller with two lines to a footboard tiller. That kept the peace aboard the boat and allowed both of us to row each in our own way without quarreling about someone putting uneven pressure on the oars. The plywood plate turned out to be awkward to operate and there was little need for keeping it at a fixed angle with the pressure of my feet.
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Superbly written and helpful article, thank you, and an elegant boat you’ve built there.
I too have a Whitehall, 17′ of strip-planked elegance and joy to row and sail. The rudder slides up and down on a bronze-rod “pintle.” Down is good for extra lateral resistance for sailing like a witch. Up brings the bottom of the rudder in line with the keel, still enough to steer but much less resistance for rowing.
I sometimes get the feeling that with rudder lashed in the center, or slightly off center allowing for crosswind, increases waterline length and speed slightly. Could that be true with the keel being extended that extra foot?
Whitehalls are great aren’t they, with their plumb bow and long, slim wetted area?
An appendage like a rudder doesn’t increase the length of a hull form. It will add friction, slowing the boat; at high speeds the wave-making characteristics of the hull have a greater impact on hull speed and a rudder won’t give the hull a longer, and thus faster, wave formation. If you’re feeling that you row faster with the rudder in place, especially angled slightly for a crosswind, it may be that you’re more able to put full power into both oars rather than pulling harder on one and easing up on the other to maintain your course.
A friend of mine worked out an even simpler system with his 16′ Shew & Burnham Whitehall. It would only work on fixed-seat boats because it relies on contact between the steering ropes and your calf. He ran his tiller ropes from his yoke forward to spots on the frames where he could lash the ends so that both were snug with the rudder centered; the secret was crossing them so they crossed forward of his calves. When he was rowing his calves were in light contact with the ropes. All you need to do was push down on one calf and the boat turned towards the calf side. I’d never seen this done before, or indeed invented by someone else.
I’m trying to rig something like this in my tandem sea kayak, because my legs are long and the foot peg system doesn’t work. Any advice for installing in an enclosed cockpit?
While touring kayaks use pivoting pedals for steering, sprint-racing kayaks use fixed footboards with a horizontal T-shaped tiller. The head of the T is forward of the foot board and equipped with pivot at the intersection of the T’s head and stem. The stem projects through a horizontal slot at the top of the foot board. You could make a rig like this and then use the foot-pedal tracks to anchor it.
Tiller systems made by Nelo and Kirton can serve as examples.
Very helpful. Thanks!