$10 Rudder for H260

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Aug 11, 2006
1,446
Hunter H260 Traverse City
Recent discussion about the H260 rudder got me thinking. Losing a rudder on the H260 is really not a big deal if you have a spare. It takes only a few minutes to slap a new one on. On trips out of town I carry a spare in the aft bunk. If your rudder snaps, and you don't have a spare, it spells the end of your sailing day or maybe a weekend, but the real problem is the long trip home. Without a rudder you can only go about 2mph under power because the H260 yaws from side to side as soon as you try to go faster than that. I wanted to see if I could make an emergency rudder out of cheap materials that was easy to install and would get me home at my normal motoring speed. An added bonus would be to actually be able to sail with it. The OEM replacement is about $600 and IdaSailor makes a poly blade for about $500 that is less prone to breaking. I see this as a one time use rudder so I did not want to go into much effort or expense. I'm confident the result is plenty strong. I made both a 48" and a 36" version. I'm confident you could sail with the longer version but not sure how the shorter one will perform. The advantage of the shorter version is that it is lighter and easier to stow. I thought about making the rudder more streamlined and could do that easily by grinding a sharper edge but for now I just want to see how well each version performs. Then I can try refinements. As soon as the ice melts I'll try them both out and report back. More pics at this link: http://kobernus.com/hunter260/rudder/mini-rudder/mini_rudder.html Does anyone have experience with this approach?
 

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Hogan

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Aug 28, 2007
85
Hunter 260 Bay Springs, Ms
Can't wait to read your trial results and

Have a question or two. How do you plan to seal your temp rudders? Would a glass coating work? I was considering making a really minimal fin that could be hidden aboard just for motoring home. Anyone try one as short as 24"?
 
G

George

Temp Results

Since I'm trying to keep the cost down until I know how they work, I'm going to seal them with a wood sealer that I already have. The idea is to see what length works best and if any other fairing needs to be done to the shape. I'm sure the 48" length will work just fine. I'm especially interested in how the 36" length works. Once the "sea trials" are complete I'll spend a little more and cover the rudders with glass & epoxy. That will probably cost another $25 or so. The H260 does not make a good ice breaker so I'll have to wait 'til April for the test.
 
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