Fenn XT & Elliptical

I recently purchased a Vacuum Bagged Fenn XT and am wanting to start doing downwinders - Millers run. Should I be fitting an Elliptical rudder? I have browsed the forum and there seems to be a number of manufactures making them. Which one should I be considering. Thanks in advance for any advice.

CoastPop

I'm going to stick my neck out here, because I know there's a big elliptical rudder following out there, but in my view there is nothing wrong with the standard Fenn rudders. For the people that are broaching and finding the ski doesn't steer the way they want it to, then its your technique that sucks, not the rudder!
(You don't see any of the top paddlers changing their rudders....)

Your standard XT rudder should be fine for Millers runs!

Thanks Nige - I hope you don't get flack for your opinion. The reason for the question is that there seems to be a great leaning towards elliptical, almost to the point where it seems a no-brainer to go that route. I know no better and have no experience yet on a good blow downwinder, so no idea whether the standard rudder is ok or not.

Thanks for your honest opinion.

I have used standard rudders and elliptical rudders on the Think skis (Legend and Evo), and the elliptical rudder made both skis more responsive.

I have both a XT and a SL in the garage now, with std sharkfin rudders. As Nige says, if you are a top elite paddler you probably don't need to consider an elliptical rudder for these surfskis either.

But I would argue that the responsiveness of the sharkfin rudder improves dramatically as the speed goes from 11 kph to abt 13 kph. Thus, I would say: try the elliptical rudder on the XT if (1) your fitness limits your flatwater speed and/or (2) if your paddling/downwind/stability technique is less than optimal and you simply want easier steering without having to wait until the technique improves (or you don't want to put in the technique imporvement effort).

For the people that are broaching and finding the ski doesn't steer the way they want it to, then its your technique that sucks, not the rudder!

Up to a point!

The original sharkfin Fenn rudder also becomes more difficult to turn at speed because it's so unbalanced (ie most of the meat of the rudder is behind the pin). In addition it has a very thin profile making it prone to stalling. The elliptical rudders suffer from neither of these problems.

But here are some more nuanced observations:

- Here in Cape Town we usually have wind generated swell that is short and steep. I don't think that the conditions in Durban, say are the same - they seem to have bigger, longer, ocean swells there.

- Different boats respond differently to the elliptical rudders. For me (and many others) the Mako6 was transformed by the elliptical rudder and became a pleasure instead of a pain to paddle downwind - in our conditions

- The Custom Kayaks Bullet I found very difficult to control downwind either with the tiny rudder supplied as standard at the time, or the bigger rudder that I put on later. But, sure, elite paddlers like Barry Lewin don't seem to suffer the same problem.

- A great test of a boat's propensity for spinning out is to ride the wake of a large motor boat - we often do it here behind an 88tonne tourist catamaran that operates out of Hout Bay. Boats behave very differently: The Think Evo II sits on the wake docilely, as does the V10 Sport. The Genius G40, a longer boat, needs a lot of pre-emptive paddling to keep control.

So I would say - the effect varies but the XT does have a reputation for spinning out on waves. I would say: try it with the original rudder, and with an elliptical rudder and report back! (I've never tried the XT with an elliptical rudder and have never paddled the XT here on a Millers Run - I paddled one in San Francisco a couple of years ago and it went pretty well, but the runs were big and round and clean.)

I find it hard to accept that after all the many Millers Runs I've done and the many boats I've paddled that my technique totally sucks, but I also accept that I'm a long way from being an elite paddler.

I'm strongly in favour of the elliptical rudders - but only for downwind, for some boats and in the right conditions...

My advice would be:

- Give the boat a go in downwind conditions and see if you find yourself broaching a lot. Bear in mind that everyone broaches sometimes - if you're not moving through the water fast enough when the wave hits, you're probably going to broach. But if you broach more than, say, three times, then that's unacceptable.
- If you are broaching a lot, try an elliptical rudder. Fenn makes one, Carbonology make them and Orka make them. Orka's is the biggest and may be too big for an XT; the Carbonology one is a bit smaller (I think) and the Fenn one (judging from my Swordfish) is smaller still.
- Don't think the rudder is a silver bullet! If your technique truly sucks, you'll broach anyway!

Hi Fredrik

I am in the category of slow flat water speed due to lack of fitness.

Am I correct in understanding your post that my xt will go faster with an elliptical rudder in this circumstance?

Thanks

In my opinion and experience with the Evo - the answer is yes and no.

No, you may go a slightly slower over a longer distance on the flat due to more drag from a larger rudder, but maybe only noticeably in the 11+ kph range. The elliptical rudder will make the ski feel tippier the first few times, but you quickly learn to keep your toes off the steering pedals.

Yes, if the elliptical rudder enables you to steer the nose of the ski into more "wave holes" going downwind than before, you will be a lot faster. Also, a more responsive rudder will require less steering time/drag time before the nose is in the hole. End of the day, you should be able to catch more runners and link more of them than before, and your downwind time will improve.