Skillset

Summer 2009

Stern rudder strokes.

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.

To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: DOWNLOAD

By Alex Matthews / photos by Rochelle Relyea

To practice on flat water, build up some speed before planting your stern pry.

Use aggressive torso rotation and a fully submerged blade.

The dropped paddle trick verifies correct posture.

A stern rudder stroke is the most powerful means of making small course corrections without slowing your kayak’s forward momentum too much. While sometimes erroneously perceived as a turning stroke, the stern rudder is really a steering stroke – it’s ideal, for instance, when gliding through a tight gap too narrow for other strokes to be used. The stern rudder will also help you stay on track when paddling in wind and waves. And it’s the key paddle stroke that you’ll use to control your kayak while surfing.

There are actually two forms of the stern rudder: the stern pry, and the stern draw. We’ll look at the vastly more powerful stern pry first.

To set up for the stern pry, completely submerge your ruddering blade as far back as is comfortable, with the paddle parallel to the kayak. This will provide your stroke with the most power while minimizing any braking effect. To do this, you’ll need to use some aggressive torso rotation, which means turning your whole upper body towards your ruddering blade. This rotation will keep your hands in front of your body in a powerful position and protect your shoulders from injury. The front hand should be held comfortably in front of your chest. A little trick to ensure that you’ve achieved the desired position is to drop your paddle – it should fall directly into the water without bouncing off of your kayak first. From this position you can use the power of torso rotation to push away with the backside of your paddle blade to steer your kayak.

From this same setup position, you can also draw water towards your stern with the power face of your blade, which is called the stern draw. However, because the stern pry is so much more powerful than the stern draw, we’ll use the pry the vast majority of the time, and simply alternate sides (right or left) as needed to steer the desired course.

When practicing the stern rudder, strive to produce minimal drag from your ruddering paddle blade. The blade should be slicing cleanly into the water, and not flaring out to the side, splashing lots of water, or creating drag. Having said that, in some surfing situations (like very steep waves), including a breaking element in the stroke may be desirable. A paddler can choose to intentionally introduce drag by prying out to the side, in a bid to stay higher up the wave’s face, thereby reducing the chances of burying the kayak’s bow in the wave trough.

Also, experiment with combining boat angle with your stern pry. Edging your kayak one way or the other will yield different handling characteristics and provide even more response and fine control. Edging away from your stern pry is particularly effective when steering a surfing sea kayak. As always, practice on both sides and develop a smooth and efficient transition from one side to the other – this is a skill that will pay immediate dividends on your next surf ride.

Adapted from “Sea Kayaking: Rough Waters” by Alex Matthews available at www.Helipress.com.