Rudder retracts while under sail!

[Igetit]

Just bought an 84 O'Day 222 in immaculate condition, and after a very brief talk with the dealer about the operation of the boat, I have a couple questions. I did search for these topics before posting but was unable to find

1) There are two small lines running up the rudder, one from the trailing edge to pin it in the "up" position for transport. The other one runs between the plates that sandwich the rudder, and I cannot tell what its purpose is, but I suspect it has to do with raising and lowering.

My concern is that during our first day of sailing, upon raising the jib and starting to get some speed, I glanced down to to see that the rudder was retracting and almost parallel with the water line! Is this normal, and how is there not some kind of locking mechanism to keep it in the "down" position?!? I would think this could contribute to a capsize condition when the boat is at moderate heel.

2) After raising the mast, I noticed the standing rigging on both sides of the boat have, what seems to me, more play than desired. I recall having read there should be about 3 fingers' worth of flex on any of the lines. Is that correct, and how do I tighten it if needed? (I have a slip in a local marina, so I won't be raising and lowering the mast each weekend.)

Any help appreciated, our first day of sailing was great fun, and we're headed back to the lake this afternoon.

P.S. - I did locate a few threads on rigging tension after finding the right search terms. Apparently its an art, not a science, depending if you use a guage or are somehow tuned into O'Day's notion of "hand tight" and "snug". Ha!

 

[estopa]

Congrats on owning a 222. That line you reference that is sandwiched between rudder and tiller is the line that has to be tightened to a cleat. When you pull on it you will notice that the rudder is pushed down into the water. You might have to push the rudder down into the water and pull on that line to get it tight as possible, then cleat it. This will keep the rudder down.

I too had a rough time trying to figure out how to rig this boat as there isn't a lot of information out there. I used a book called "Sail and Rig Tuning" by Ivar Dedekam and a LOOS gauge to get it setup. In the book there are good illustration and tips on how to setup a fractional setup like ours. I bought all new rigging this year along with a new main sail so I needed to get setup from ground zero.

I set mine up pretty conservative with 2 degrees of mast rake and about 15% breaking strength fore stay and upper/lower side stays. The back stay doesn't do much so I just hand tightened.

 

[Igetit]

That line you reference that is sandwiched between rudder and tiller is the line that has to be tightened to a cleat.

George, thanks so much for taking the time to respond. That's a very clear answer to a rather basic question I did not know to ask. I'll have much more piece of mind while on the water today.

Thanks again,
Paul

 

[Joe11688]

Just bought an 84 O'Day 222 in immaculate condition, and after a very brief talk with the dealer about the operation of the boat, I have a couple questions. I did search for these topics before posting but was unable to find

1) There are two small lines running up the rudder, one from the trailing edge to pin it in the "up" position for transport. The other one runs between the plates that sandwich the rudder, and I cannot tell what its purpose is, but I suspect it has to do with raising and lowering.

My concern is that during our first day of sailing, upon raising the jib and starting to get some speed, I glanced down to to see that the rudder was retracting and almost parallel with the water line! Is this normal, and how is there not some kind of locking mechanism to keep it in the "down" position?!? I would think this could contribute to a capsize condition when the boat is at moderate heel.

2) After raising the mast, I noticed the standing rigging on both sides of the boat have, what seems to me, more play than desired. I recall having read there should be about 3 fingers' worth of flex on any of the lines. Is that correct, and how do I tighten it if needed? (I have a slip in a local marina, so I won't be raising and lowering the mast each weekend.)

Any help appreciated, our first day of sailing was great fun, and we're headed back to the lake this afternoon.

P.S. - I did locate a few threads on rigging tension after finding the right search terms. Apparently its an art, not a science, depending if you use a guage or are somehow tuned into O'Day's notion of "hand tight" and "snug". Ha!

There should be a jam cleat under your tiller to snub off the rudder blade hold down pendant line. It should be an open clam cleat with a built in fair lead type of cleat. I usually pull the line tight until the rudder blade bottoms out in the rudder head. You can hear it bottom out as well as feel it. Then I snub it off at the cleat and take a few wraps of the line right around the tiller to keep it in place.
On my tiller, I have a metal stud that sticks up about and 1 1/4" that I use for my autopilot. I tie a single locking hitch over that stud with the control line to keep the rudder blade from creeping up.
Of course, if your blade happens to hit a submerged object, it's not going to flip up too easy. It could also cause the tiller to split in half. So you try not to hit anything and if you should happen to ground out, you can untie it fast and let the blade come up to clear it.
The one thing that you don't want to do is sail the boat with the blade up, even if it creeps up a half inch. You probably noticed that when the blade came up, you experienced a lot of weather helm in your tiller. This is not the normal type of weather helm that you would feel if the wind picked up. It is only attributed by the rudder blade creeping up. What happens is; the blade creeps up a little and throws the blade out of alignment creating a lot of pressure on the blade causing it to flex underwater. This flexing motion can cause the rudder blade to open up at the seams and eventually break.

O'Day rudders were built by a company in Florida years ago. They molded the blades it two halves, epoxied them together, and pumped them with foam. They are noted for splitting at the seams and breaking and it just doesn't apply to the O'Day 222. A lot of rudder blades including spade rudders for the larger O'Days are susceptible to this.
In my owner's manual, the manufacturer tells you not to store the blade in a hot place like the trunk of a car in summer, or paint the rudder a dark color. The heat can cause the foam to melt causing the blade to lose it's strength and eventally break under the strain of normal use.

Thesw ruddera didn't come with a blade hold up pendant line. I installed a blade hold up line myself because I wanted to be able to launch my boat with the rudder on the stern and the blade held up and centered with ropes on the tiller. It just seemed like a good idea to me. I often raise my rudder blade when I'm anchored in a shallow cove for the night.

Sometimes the pendant line hold down for the blade gets caught in between the blade and the inside aluminum rudder head and you need to reach down and get it free so you can get you blade working again. The pendant line should have a 3/16"X 12" bungee cord attached to it with a hog ring which is attached to a bolt under the tiller. What the bungee does is put tension on the pendant line, keeping it centered on the upper half of the blade when the blade tips up.
The rudder and tiller on my 86 OD 222 has been modified but you may get a pretty good idea of what I'm talking about from my pics. Also, check out the pdf rudder sketch for more info.
Joe