Did you see the post a little while back about our new fin? If not, here’s the recap: we redesigned our fins last year. In addition to producing cleaner, better fitting fins, this redesign gave us the opportunity to also redesign our rudders. Previously, we had separate sprint and head racing steering systems – each with different fins and rudders. With this new fin, you can switch out just the rudder for head race season, leaving the same fin installed. Better yet? We’ve seen significantly increased turning ability with this new rudder.

We only have a few of these rudders on the water so far, but initial feedback has been overwhelmingly good. Perhaps – as one coach said – even a fix for “rudder-happy” coxswains?? Here’s what coaches (who row on very windy rivers and know a thing or two about turns) are saying:

“Initial review is that the boat TURNS with these suckers on there. We can hit any and every corner we encounter on the river now, no problem, and probably have turning force to spare.”

“We’ve got some 50-70 degree bends in the river and it’s really nice to be able to hold the line; with the old rudders the coxswains would either have to slide out to the middle or get one side hard on power. Today I noticed the eight staying full (even) power and the cox just stayed locked on the line all the way around the turn. It also seems like she had no problem finding ‘straight’ which was something I’ve noticed being a problem with other brand’s big rudders – the boats can wander a little out of turns.”

To see if your existing fin is compatible with this new head race rudder, check out the service bulletin here. The new fins are $37, and both the sprint and head race rudders are $43 (all the same price as before). To get your hands on one of our new head race rudders, email Jacobe with your ordering info.