skeg design for pirogue (hey Larry)

[switters]

16' foot pirogue, does not track well with one person, but moves really well with kayak style paddle. Tracks reasonably well with two people who are used to paddling together.

Those two people wont be using the pirogue, it will be used by mostly beginners. so I am adding a skeg and some runners for the sand abuse.

6-inches of rocker.

So does the skeg need to be the full 6-inches at the end? I would think it does when only one person is in. The boat is already pretty slippery and since it is not for any type of competition I don't think drag is a big factor. Just wondering what thoughts go into skeg design.

[J. Dillon]

On my 14' pirogue I attached a 6"X 18" skeg . It tracks well and also serves to take the in and out abuse. It also has a S.Steel edging on the last 6" .

JD

[Thorne]

I'd be tempted to make it longer -- you can always trim it back later if desired. Run the rubbing strip from the hull all the way over the back edge of the skeg for best protection.

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

16' foot pirogue, does not track well with one person, but moves really well with kayak style paddle. Tracks reasonably well with two people who are used to paddling together.

Those two people wont be using the pirogue, it will be used by mostly beginners. so I am adding a skeg and some runners for the sand abuse.

6-inches of rocker.

So does the skeg need to be the full 6-inches at the end? I would think it does when only one person is in. The boat is already pretty slippery and since it is not for any type of competition I don't think drag is a big factor. Just wondering what thoughts go into skeg design.

SIX inches of rocker! Got a picture? Loading the bottom down with all that stuff to make it go straight suggests a big time design flaw.
If this boat is supposed to be a learning tool it is an unfortunate choice. For slepping around in a confined area anything will work. But if the paddler is going to try and go any distance stuff like weight, glide and the abilty to turn in a reasonable distance becomes as important as tracking.
Is this a Six-Hour Canoe?

[switters]

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk221/switters_bucket/DSC01857.jpg

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk221/switters_bucket/DSC01861.jpg

I'll check again on the 6-inches of rocker but we had a look at that and that's what I came up with. The boy knows how to paddle, most of his friends don't. He has also spent all of his paddling life up till now in the bow so he needs a while to develop his J.

I still need to weigh the pirogue, but I think its about 45 lbs right now without paint and skeg.

My son has the pictures of the launch and I will post some when he gets around to sending them to me. I went out on the water in another canoe and got some shots of it on the water with two people.