Subject: a question of rudder use and general getting underway techniques
----- Original Message -----
From: Robin C. Moseley <rcmoseley@lucent.com>
To: Al Schonborn <uncle-al@home.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2001 11:34 PM
Subject: Rudder Control

Al,

I have another setup question for you.  The Rudder on my W1445 has a line for drawing it down but no control as far as I can tell to draw it up.  Is there a recommended way to rig up a control for pulling the rudder up?  I found that by tightening up the bolts on the rudder I can put some friction on it to keep it up when launching, but I am also not sure this is the best way to keep it up as friction produces wear.  Thanks for your thoughts!

Robin Moseley  (W1445)

Al Schonborn wrote:

Hi, Robin:

In my opinion, it's best NOT to launch with the rudder attached to the transom - makes the rudder and boat do funny things (possibly damaging things in a blow!) as you back off the trailer. I recommend having the rudder bolt quite tight - to the extent that it takes an effort to angle the blade up by hand. On the rare occasions that I need to put the rudder onto its gudgeon and pintle with the blade in the up position (departure from very shallow water) I sit down and put the rudder across my knees with the leading edge facing up. I then push down on one end of the rudder with each hand (carefully, lest I wedge parts of me into the angle the blade and the rudder head are about to form!), and then go aft to attach the rudder. With the blade up, this manoeuvre takes a bit of getting used to, especially if you have already raised the main and the boom is whipping around near your head in a blow! Personally, I like to work in the following order:

  • launch
  • tie to dock or have crew hold boat head to wind (little or no play in the painter to keep better control of the boat)
  • rudder attached BUT NOT TILLER
  • make sure no centreboard is down until I'm ready to leave
  • jib up, tension halyard for conditions - do not cleat sheets
  • main up: make sure I'm head to wind with boom off gooseneck, vang off and mainsheet free to run - otherwise the main will easily refuse to go all the (or even half) way up its mast groove - fasten halyard, pull boom down onto gooseneck - vang can now be tensioned to a reasonable degree, mainsheet not cleated
  • tiller attached to rudder, blade down as far as possible for best control
  • when I'm totally ready to cast off, the board comes down as needed (see also dock leaving procedure I've outlined after seeing (and being part of) many disasters at TSCC and elsewhere
There are a number of reasons why you don't want to sail with the blade up:
  • any helm (tendency of the boat to want to luff up or bear away) is radically magnified with even a ten degree aft angle and it gets proportionately worse at higher angles
  • excessive helm forces you to wrestle with the tiller and causes fatigue not only in the human arm holding the tiller, but also in the rudder cheeks that hold the blade - either the cheeks or the rudder blade have been known to snap off at the most inopportune moments (I always glass over my foils - blade & centreboard and they've never broken!!! good winter job!)
  • with the blade up, it's harder to steer safely and in any decent wind the boat will easily heel to the point where the rudder no longer bites the water!! 
What I do to keep the blade down under normal conditions is to tighten the rudder bolt as mentioned above and use a rudder tie-down that has a 6-8" loop of 1/4" shock cord tied onto its end. Total length such that it is barely possible to wedge the shock cord over the little hook under the tiller (near its forward end). To give the shock cord the right amount of slack, I add a one-foot length of 4-mil pre-stretch rope in which I tie a little 1-2" bowline at each end. The aft bowline loops around the shock cord loop AND the tiller hook (saves wear on the shock cord) while the forward loop gives me something to pull on in such a way as to get the necessary tension to put the other loop over the hook. This keeps the rudder down but does allow enough slack as a buffer should rudder run aground.

Wow, Robin! This really HAS run on. I'm thinking I should convert this into a web article on the WIT. ... One last item - can I put your question and my rambling answer on the Weekly Whiffle???

Best regards,

Uncle Al (W3854)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Robin C. Moseley <rcmoseley@lucent.com>
To: Al Schonborn <uncle-al@home.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:04 PM
Subject: Re: Rudder Control

Al,

Thanks for the great response!  Yes, by all means, please put this in your Weekly Whiffle.  I gather from your response that you do not have a way to pull up the rudder when sailing, as you do not have a reason to do it.  If you run into a rock or something it will knock the rudder up and you would just pull it back down once past the submerged rock.  Your answer is helpful to me as I get ready to go out with W1445 for the first time.

Thanks,

Robin  W1445

Hi, Robin:

Glad you found it helpful. Stay away from those rocks but if you do hit one, you have interpreted my suggestion perfectly! Best wishes for a fine first sail.

Uncle Al (W3854)