Kick-up Rudder for the Epic V10

Thursday, 29 May 2008 14:09 | Written by  Erik Wildenstam
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Adventure racer Ola Olsson was paddling a Sisson Defender but wasn't happy with the way it performed in open waters. He liked the Epic V10 but wanted to use it in rivers and lakes for training and racing.

Kick-up rudder assembly
Ola Olsson's kick-up rudder assembly (Pic: Erik Wildenstam)

The problem with that was that he was worried about damaging the rudder in shallow water.  The solution?  He constructed his own kick-up rudder! 

The rudder is made of aluminium and connected to the steering cables via the rudder hatch. It is fastened to the surfski with glue, tape or Velcro. It will fit other surfskis with minor modifications.

V10 kick-up rudder
The rudder in place (Pic: Erik Wildenstam)

The rudder makes the V10 more versatile (no need for a second boat) and takes away the fear of losing the rudder when paddling in unknown waters. Changing between the kick-up rudder and the original rudder is done in minutes.

The rudder has been tested for six months and is now used by several adventure racers in Sweden.

Ola Olsson
Ola Olsson paddlling his kick-up V10! (Pic: Erik Wildenstam)

The rudder is sold for 120 USD plus shipping by Nomado Kayak in Sweden (http://www.nomado.se/) +46 11 104540