Rudders are a critical part of any boat’s design – and in my opinion many of the rudders on surfskis are sub-optimal, to put it mildly.  But at last a manufacturer has got off their butt to offer a wide range of rudders for different conditions.

[Editor: Phillip Nye writes to say that Johan van Blerk’s rudder may well work – but it’s not a “Positive Caster” rudder]

Jamii Hamlin loves the Red7 Surf70 Pro and has made a number of customisations to his ski: footplate, rudders, wave deflector and seat have all been modified.

"Nel" posted a comment to my review of the EOS to the affect that it would be good if we did an article of rudder design.  The topic being an area of interest to me and having experimented with rudders and fins over many years I needed no second invitation.

I've noticed a fair amount of chat about overstern rudders lately. There's the Avon Descent discussion where many skis are taken down this river. There was also the replacement overstern rudder for the Epic V10.

Martin Gunda's carbon overstern rudder

The stock rudder for my Epic V10 surfski catches kelp and weeds so I decided to build my own "weedless" rudder as a replacement. Here's how I went about it...

[Editor: Paddlers around the world build custom rudders of all shapes and sizes.  But Johan van Blerk has taken rudder innovation to a new level – by altering the angle of his ski’s rudder shaft to give it “positive caster”.   Will all skis be built this way in future?]

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.

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

I enjoy the science and design of surfskis nearly as much as paddling them and have experimented with a number of things including:

• A low aspect ventral fin under the seat of the paddler
• A winged rudder with an endplate
• A hydrofoil located on the bow of the ski

Dale Lippstreu's articulated rudder (Pic: Dale Lippstreu)