I recently acquired a Nordkapp HM. I love almost everything about this boat, ocean cockpit, narrow roundish hull and fast.The only thing I don't like is the way the hull has this little skeg thing at the stern. It was added to the HM model to reduce the weathercocking and make it go straight. The thing is, it reduces it's maneuverability and can leecock in some conditions. I feel that I can deal with the weathercocking and would really like a more maneuverable kayak.
The question is, should I trim it down to more like the HS model and how much?
René of http://www.zeekajaks.info/blog/r_weblog.php
Has one that was trimmed down. I emailed him for opinions.
What's yours?
8 comments:
I would not trim, since you have 2 boats which seem to compliment each other perfectly ...?
I changed my mind. You should trim it, and maybe retro-fit the kayak with a skeg.
The problem with a retro-fit skeg is it takes up more hatch space than I want. I was thinking of the possibilty of some sort of external skeg.
Either one like the Feathercraft strap-on(requires landing or a second person to install.
Freya had mentioned that she somehow uses her storm paddle as a skeg. She ties it in such a way that it hangs down in the water. I'm investigating that as a possibilty before I perform any surgery.
I think the boat will weathercock like nuts without a real skeg, or without the extended skeg, or with the storm paddle attached to it, Stevie.
What did Rene answer?
I Answered by mail the following:
Hi Stevie,
The skeg was probably not the best designfeature for this kayak. It's exact as you write in your blog: under certain conditions it causes leecocking.
To my experience it starts happening above 4-5Beaufort-winds. Especially when paddling at an angle against the wind.
The mecanism is that, once you glide over a wave (especially shorts, steeper waves), the bow is exposed to the wind and grabbed by the wind which blows it downwind; which is leecocking. Of course every kayak shows this behaviour but when the kayak has a skeg like the Nordkapp HM, the skeg will be pressed down in the water at the moment the bow is lifted by a wave and functions as a anchorpoint around which the kayak rotates. Normally a kayak has the turningpoint amidships making it more manoeuvrable.
A kayak without a skeg is much more easily brought back on its original course, sometimes even without noticing.
The Nordkapp HM can be very demanding when it starts leecocking. The difficult thing is that a Nordkapp is not the easiest kayak around, so extreme edging together with sweepstrokes (as this kayak will require) is sometimes not so easy to perform in bad weather.
Therefore I modified the skeg slightly; reducing the size a bit. I added 2 pictures underneath
[unfortunately pictures can not be added here in this comment]
Not that it does never leecock anymore after this modification.
It still does but only in stronger winds or more extreme conditions. (Above 6 Bft)
Of course you can take more of the skeg away, but then she starts weathercocking already at slight winds; at least that's what I expect.
With my skeg as it is now, the Nordkapp weathercocks a bit, but I can easily manage.
Manoeuvrability: while edging I can easaily manoeuvrate the kayak.
If you like to trim you skeg as I did, I suggest not to go further than the pictures above but first try this under different conditions and different courses at the wind.
If you are not satisfied you could go further. If at the end you are not confident with the weathercocking you can always have a variable skeg built in.
By the way, looking at the experience by you and me with the Nordkapp HM, I am not happy with the new seakayak designs lately in which the designers try the make the waterline longer to design a faster kayak.
This results in kayak models with a bulky bow having a bend in its profile. The wind will grab such a bow much more than the nice, slender bow of a Nordkapp.
And what's worst, the stern gets the same profile and starts looking very much at a skeg and thus resulting in the same bahaviour with leecocking. May be it will be worse because the bow is so bulky in its sideview. A good illustration of the effect can you find in my testreport of the Skim Distance which you can find on my website: Because of the leecocking I felt sometimes hopeless in this kayak.
No, I like my Nordkapp most and of the kayaks I own, I mostly choose the Nordkapp to paddle.
I am interested in your experiences with skeg modifications and appreciate your comments.
Kind regards
René
Marcus
I'd guess you'd know about the issue with the weathercocking from your experiences with the HM in Patagonia and other paddles.
It does weathercock even with the skeg, but not as bad as other boats. I wouldn't totally remove the skeg, just enough to make it more managable when it does leecock. I had a scary situation in clapotis with a strong quartering wind, near a seawall. I was sweeping with my ear in the water trying to keep the bow from blowing into the wall. In the end I had to paddle in reverse to get out.
René
Thanks for your response. I value your input as I know you test a lot of different kayaks and your reviews have been right on in my opinion.
Although I didn't get your pictures, I think I have an idea and will maybe start by shortening the skeg by maybe 2cm and see how that goes.
By the way, I totally agree about the long waterline, full bow and stern on sea kayaks.
Although these things increase top speed on flat calm water, it does it at the cost of performance in wind and waves. I have seen QCC(a popular US brand) and others perform very poorly in real world conditions, getting blown round and broaching more often than the Norkapp.
When I saw a picture of the Skim Distance, I thought it would be a boat I wouldn't like.
It looks like the kind of design that usually has a rudder, but it is a skeg boat?
That long straight keel, scares me. It looks like it has leecocking potential and must be hard to maneuver.
Stevie,
It´s a pity that the pictures did not arrive. I guess the mail, with the text as above, did also not arrive.
I will give it another try to send you the skeg-pictures. It surely helps if you have a proven example.
About the Skom Distance: Yes it´s a variable-skeg-boat.
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