Bow Rudder

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Key Points

The bow rudder is a new stroke and is designed to turn the boat quickly whilst on the move. It is a very effective turning stroke and has the potential on white water to turn the boat through 180 degrees, allowing the paddler to "break into" or out off fast moving water. So how do we do it?

Let's look at the static bow rudder position first of all. To find this position, try the following:

1. Set up for a draw stroke with the paddle blade facing the boat.

2. Twist your lower wrist back until the blade is at about a 45 degree angle to the boat.

3. Lean slightly forward, and slice the blade forwards in the water until it is about level with or just in front of you knees.

You should now be in bow rudder position.

Now because this is a dynamic stroke we need boat speed to make it work. So start by:

1. Paddling forwards at a good pace.

2. Do a sweep stroke on for example the left hand side. (LHS).

3. At the end of the sweep stroke, lift the blade out of the water and bring your left hand up and over your head until your knuckles are on your right temple.

4. Lean forward and plant the blade in the water and apply pressure on the blade to stop the blade being pushed back by the force of the water. The boat should now effectively be spinning round the paddle.



The bow rudder is related to the bow draw rudder, but it is slightly easier to perform.

If you have learned the bow draw rudder, you may want to look into learning the bow rudder as well. This stroke is used for turning while you are moving in your kayak, just like the bow draw. However, this stroke is mostly used in whitewater, so if you are not planning on going whitewater kayaking, then you probably do not need to spend your time learning this kayaking technique.

This stroke is a little bit easier than the bow draw rudder, however, as, after you have put the paddle into the water as you would with the bow draw stroke, you just keep it in one position for the bow rudder. This will allow you to turn the kayak easily, but you will not have to worry about learning how you are expected to move the kayak blade in the water.

One thing you should keep in mind is that just like the stern rudder or the bow draw rudder, if you leave the paddle in the water too long for the bow rudder, then you may end up slowing down your kayak considerably.

If you are using the bow rudder and you find that it is not helping you to turn your kayak quickly enough, don't worry. It's relatively easy to switch over to the bow/draw rudder instead. In order to make this switch, all you have to do is to start moving your kayak paddle toward your shins. This stroke will speed up the turn that you are making with your kayak. The other thing to remember about the bow rudder is that the faster you are moving when you start, the more likely you'll be able to pull off this kayaking stroke.


Bow Rudder Video 1mb download AVI file