I am having a great time sailing my O'day 222 on the Tennessee River. You all have been a great help in answering my questions on this new to me boat. My next question is, do I need to keep the rudder dropped all the way down during all sailing conditions (speaking of wind speeds)? I have been experimenting some and it seems like when I pull the rudder up a little that I might pick up just a little speed. Any suggestions?
Best Rudder Postion
- Thread starter mccadamsoday
- Start date
You are talking rudder and not centerboard right? The rudder is a symmetrical foil and is designed to be at it's most efficient point when the leading edge is vertical on most boats. Some tapered rudders maybe a few degrees different. Check the down stop to make sure there is not a problem and the rudder is going past where it is designed to stop. Raising the rudder will cause a heavy helm and as jsg said increase stress on the rudder and other parts. Raising the rudder will also change the center of lateral resistance and trim of the boat. Now raising the centerboard when you are off the wind will definitely increase the speed. Hope this helps.
Does your rudder slide up and down, or does it swing? If it swings, put it all the way down. The boat will not act right with it part way up. You don't reduce the area in the water, so the angle does not reduce drag.It may actually make it worse, as the efficiency is reduced, so if there is any weather helm at all, you will end up with tons more drag.
If your rudder slides vertically up and down, then its a different story. Not sure it would make much difference, as the rudder is not that large and usually well designed. Your boat would need to be perfectly balanced for there to be any benefit. If its not, you are just going to put more angle into the rudder to keep the boat straight, which means you are not going to reduce drag at all.
If your rudder slides vertically up and down, then its a different story. Not sure it would make much difference, as the rudder is not that large and usually well designed. Your boat would need to be perfectly balanced for there to be any benefit. If its not, you are just going to put more angle into the rudder to keep the boat straight, which means you are not going to reduce drag at all.
The rudder is designed to be in the down position and because it kicks up, that is a safety feature if you ran aground. Instead of ripping the rudder head off the transom like a non kick up rudder might do, the pivoting blade will avoid damage as long as you don't have it totally locked down. The rudder has a lot to so with the handling of your boat especially in more severe conditions. An outboard rudder like yours often has more control over the boat than an inboard rudder depending on the design.
Is this speed increase a perceived increase or one which is observed on a knot meter? Any forward speed achieved by reduced friction gained by the reduction in exposed center board will likely be offset by an increase in the amount of sideways motion.
Yes, but not what you are thinking. Raising the centerboard changes your helm balance. If the boat is wanting to round up, moving the board aft by raising it slightly may balance the boat better and increase speed. See if your rudder is centered. If not, you can move your swing keel fore or aft to balance the boat. Yes that will increase the speed.
Well that's a whole different story. Upwind you probably want most or all of the lift the board can generate, so full down is probably best. Downwind you don't need that lift since the sails aren't really pushing you sideways, so you probably can get better speed by pulling the board up a bit and reducing drag.
I thought that was what you probably meant per my previous post. I'm surprised some of the other O'Day owners have not responded. Probably because most O'Days over 20' do not have a kick up rudder and they were trying to stay out of the fray. On our O'Day 23 we pull the board all the way up anytime the apparent wind is 90 degrees or further astern. All other times it is full down unless we are in shallow water. We have tested various positions in different wind speeds with a knot stick and this is the best positions for course made good vs boat speed. Off the wind the boat will increase speed a solid 1/2 knot with board up. I think partially up probably increases drag due to more turbulence introduced into the CB well. Our boat drags it's stern with more than 2 people in the cockpit so we do our best to keep as much weight as forward as possible. Have someone take a picture from the side of your boat with your normal crew in their normal positions to see how your boat sits on it's water line. Sailing the boat on it's lines improves speed a lot. Hope this helps.
