Rudder or skeg – a common and sometimes heated topic among paddlers. Both experienced paddlers and beginners can use either. Neither is “right” or “more professional”, whatever the debate suggests, but they work in partly different ways. Here we try to explain the differences.

Simply put, you steer with a rudder and hold your course with a skeg (not quite true, but nearly!). Whether a kayak has one or the other depends largely on hull shape: long, straight keel line – rudder; curved, banana-shaped keel line – skeg.

Want to go fast? Choose a rudder!

Rudders are most common on two kinds of kayak: beginner rental kayaks and racing kayaks (which are definitely not for beginners). The long, straight hull of a racing kayak makes it fast, but it dislikes big waves and is hard to turn because the waterline is so long – so a rudder is added to help it turn.

A typical skeg kayak has a banana-shaped hull and a much shorter waterline, with bow and stern lifted out of the water. It is not as fast, but much easier to turn – with the paddle, your body or both – and it handles big waves remarkably well. This type is often called a British-style sea kayak.

Easy to turn, then – but sometimes hard to keep straight. That is what the skeg is for: not for turning, but for going straight!

Skeg: use the wind!

The real trick with a skeg is to use the wind direction to your advantage. Three simple rules:

• Paddling into the wind: no skeg.
• Wind from behind: full skeg.
• Wind from the side: half skeg.

That is really all you need to know! Every boat moving forward has good grip at the front and less at the back. Turbulence makes the stern skid while the bow stays fairly still – true for kayaks, canoes and oil tankers alike, and the reason rudders sit at the stern.

Into the wind

Paddling straight into the wind, you usually need no skeg at all – the headwind keeps the stern more or less in line.

Wind from behind

Paddling away from the wind, drop the skeg fully, at least if it is blowing. If you get slightly off course, the wind grabs the stern and pushes it round until the waves hit you side-on. With the skeg down, the stern is “locked” in the water and stays put.

Wind from the side

Crossing open water in a strong crosswind without a skeg, the wind pushes the stern away and the kayak turns its nose into the wind however hard you fight it – it “weathercocks”. With the skeg fully down, the opposite happens: the bow gets pushed away from the wind. So in a strong crosswind: pull the skeg halfway up. Then you go straight across.

These are the basics – every kayak behaves a little differently, so experiment with yours. With these three rules you can handle most situations, even in fairly rough weather.

Straight keel line or sail – choose a rudder!

Sea kayaks can have rudders too, but on a strongly curved hull a stern rudder barely reaches the water. On really long kayaks such as sea racers and surfskis, a rudder is almost essential for turning; for flat-water racing it is the only option, and if you want to paddle with a sail, choose a rudder kayak.

A rudder lets you focus on paddling forward fast – just don’t push the pedals too hard, or it brakes more than it steers. Read more in what is a kayak rudder? A skeg makes you a more technical paddler: you learn steering strokes, edging and bracing. Paddlers who want to play in the waves – rolling, surfing and rock-hopping – often choose a skeg, often with a Greenland paddle.

But if you want an Olympic medal – go for a rudder!

Try it yourself

The product pages for our sea kayaks show whether a kayak has a rudder, a skeg or both – Havspaddeln Sarek has both. In Stockholm? Rent a kayak at Långholmen or join a guided kayak tour in English.