It is hard to compress all that should be said about the Lightspeed SportTrek rudder.

Every Olympic sprint kayak has a balanced foil rudder. They are on Olympic sprint kayaks for one reason and one reason only: they improve the overall speed of a kayak during a race.

The obvious questions that arise from this are: "How does a rudder make a boat go faster?" and " I'm a recreation, touring or expedition paddler so why is this important to my paddling?”

An efficient rudder means fewer corrective strokes to keep the boat going in the direction you want it to go. As an Olympian you want all of your force going into moving the boat forward.... not into course changes. A high efficiency balanced foil rudder allows these course changes without generating drag or losing valuable forward propulsion through course correction. 

You also want a rudder on a touring boat to provide this advantage ....... but a high efficiency rudder also provides unsurpassed handling, improves stability and keeps you firmly on track when things get rough. The SportTrek Rudder from Lightspeed Kayaks provides the same efficiency and function as an Olympic kayak in proportions better suited to touring and as an internally retractable rudder. Noodle around the bay with precise control but as conditions deteriorate the benefit of our SportTrek Rudder becomes even greater.

The science of high performance hydrodynamics shows the importance of rudder design and position to the handling properties imparted to a boat. Unfortunately not a single kayak rudder system (other than ours) uses design technology that takes advantage of state of the art hydrodynamics. Virtually all conventional rudders on present-day kayaks function by inducing drag and slowing one side of the boat.

Lightspeed Kayak rudders generate lift, not drag. The lack of drag when compared to other rudder systems is noticeable. Test paddlers have repeatedly been astounded by not being able to tell if the rudder is up or down. The real difference, however, comes on initiating a turn. At speed the rudder alone will carve a turn, handles the boat with sports-car flair and will track through wind and wave action with amazing efficiency. Beginners have immediate and unsurpassed control, and experts can use the rudder like a third paddle blade. It must be tried to be appreciated - the proof, as Granny used to say, is in the paddling.

Also, there is no deck clutter and when it's up ... it's simply gone, with no wind or wave effect! The rudder is activated by releasing a single line and retrieved by hauling on the same line.

Welcome to the new millennium!