Rudder saver

[Tipster1]

I recently purchased an O’Day Daysailer II to replace my Sunbird. I am hoping the slightly bigger cockpit and width will be more comfortable, particular for two couples on shallow NJ bays. I’ve spend time familiarizing myself with the boat through the Daysailer.org site. One thing I was surprised to see missing was some sort of spring assisted rudder lift/hold down mechanism as is present on the Sunbird.

(Please try to refrain from laughing at my Sunbird broom handle tiller extension - mahogany is hard to find around here.)

Does this exist? If not, I am looking for suggestions to hold down rudder other than friction and raise rudder when maneuvering in shallow water.

[GreenLake]

You can rig an uphaul and downhaul line, but then you would want a cleat on the downhaul that releases when you strike anything with the rudder. Looking at your photo, I see no particular reason why a spring loaded system might not work, except perhaps that the DS (stock) rudder is rather heavy and you might need beefier springs.

[jeadstx]

My rudder blade dopwnhaul has shock cord on it to allow it to come up if I hit something.

John

[Tipster1]

Thanks for replies. Cleverness of the Sunbird design was way springs moved and functioned to hold rudder down or up. Before I tried reinventing the wheel, I wondered if anyone had done this. If not, drawings or schematics for line operated systems would be appreciated if such exist.

I've plowed through a bunch of Centerboard posts (search doesn't work well because there are too many references and search engine just quits) and want to fashion some sort of bungee system to keep everything taut, but releasable, when down, and untangled when up. Any suggestions for this would also be appreciated.

Sailing in shallow tidal waters requires anticipation not usually needed in lakes.

[hectoretc]

One of jdoorly's designs includes this pretty clever rudder lever option.
Here's a link to his posting on this forum.

http://forum.daysailer.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3828

Unfortunately his posting was created on the old forum and so the picture links aren't reset for the new forum.
Here are the pictures missing from his posting


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Thanks - Scott

[TIM WEBB]

Mine's a pretty simple UH/DH setup. Pix in my gallery. Trick to it is the auto-release cam cleat from Duckworks on the DH: pops loose if the rudder encounters an UUO. Have same cleat on CB DH.

Also, the trick to avoid CB control line jams: simply keep tension on both UH and DH at all times. Pix of my solution to that in my gallery as well ...

Oh, BTW, there are some clever ways to research this site using other search engines, ie google, yahoo, etc. Don't recall the exact formula at the moment, something to do with a lot of colons, semicolons, and brackets, but I believe it is explained in the website info board.

Sunbird huh? Nice! One of my old "Learn How To Sail" books has a Sunbird on the cover. Even shows your spring-loaded rudder in the pic! It's "Practical Sailing" by Tony Gibbs, published circa 1982.

[Tipster1]

You guys are the greatest! jdoorly's design reminds of things that would come into my mind when I became hypoxic on the treadmill. I visited your gallery, Tim. Taking the time to post these pictures is really phenomenal. Where did you put rear speakers and sub-woofer?

I am looking forward to getting OTW to see how the DS compares with the SB. Being longer, lower, and wider, I hope it's a bit more fun and the cockpit, although just slightly longer, looks better for 4 adults.

[ChrisB]

If you've got 500 bucks you don't need (don't we all??) Rudder Craft has an aftermarket kickup rudder assembly for the DS. The rudder can be vertically down, vertically up, or anywhere in between and looks like a much higher lift foil than the "class legal" DS rudder.

[TIM WEBB]

No rear speakers or sub-woofer Tipster, although the radio is wired for them. Get plenty of good sound from the aft-facing ones in the cuddy bulkhead. I suppose if I ever need to cut access holes for anything in the seats or seatbacks near the stern, that would give me a good excuse to put speakers back there ...

[TIM WEBB]

Hey Chris, saw your writeup of the FL 120 - sounds like it was the wrong year to miss! Oh well, hope to be back in '14 ...

Are you going to make it to the rescheduled WCTSS IRLC next month? I'm planning on being there ...

[ChrisB]

Tim,

You missed a great FL120. Both trips across Pensacola Pass were very smooth; nothing like 2012. Winds were very nice and temps not too hot. Hope you can make it next year. Who knows, by then maybe Ella will be a seasoned sailor!

I will be at the WCTSS Indian River Cruise next month. Hopefully by then my gear will be dried out and I will have the sand shaken out!

[TIM WEBB]

Yeah, I know, I'm bummed I missed it. Just wasn't in the cards this year ...

Ella's been out twice now, and she seems to love it! Will have to gradually ease her (and my wife for that matter!) into longer/multi-day trips. They may come along for at least part of the IRLC.

[GreenLake]

the way to search this site for "rudder saver" without getting all mentions of rudder would be something like this, using google, bing, etc.:

Code: Select all

site:daysailer.org "rudder saver"

For sailing in not so shallow water but occasionally launching off a beach, the friction solution has worked fine, at the cost of having to make ground contact to get the rudder to come up, instead of being able to pull it up ahead of time. Getting enough friction to keep the rudder down was an occasional problem. Still, I resist adding complexity unless absolutely required. Your case sailing in shallows may well have different requirements.

To copy the spring-loaded design would seem to be straightforward - the geometries are not that different.

[jdoorly]

Many thanks to someone for getting my pics to work (GL?) and to Scott for posting them. I have been Internetless for a while as we moved down the street to the old folks home and waited for the AT&T installation guy.

A word about the pictures: The rudder has four positions, Up, Down (locked), Down (not locked), and Midway. The first pic shows the rudder down but not locked. In this position the rudder will stay down unless the rudder strikes something, in which case the rudder will move up depending on the impact force. The fifth pic shows the rudder down and locked. In this position the rudder stays down. The sixth pic shows the rudder up, and being a DS this rudder position works about as well for steering as the down position. The key to locking or not locking the rudder down is whether the triangle's tip joint is in line with the lower actuator bar or is pushed forward against the back of the upper rudder (i.e. the operation lever is all the way back). Works good, no problems...

[jdoorly]

Many thanks to someone for getting my pics to work (GL?) and to Scott for posting them. I have been Internetless for a while as we moved down the street to the old folks home and waited for the AT&T installation guy.

A word about the pictures: The rudder has four positions, Up, midway somewhere, Down (unlocked), and Down (locked). The first pic shows the rudder down but not locked. In this position the rudder will stay down unless the rudder strikes something, in which case the rudder will move up depending on the impact force. The fifth pic shows the rudder down and locked. In this position the rudder stays down. The sixth pic shows the rudder up, and being a DS this rudder position works about as well for steering as the down position. The key to locking or not locking the rudder down is whether the triangle's tip joint is in line with the lower actuator bar or is pushed forward against the back of the upper rudder (i.e. the operation lever is all the way back). Works good, no problems...