kick up rudder

[Chuck]

My boat has the kick-up rudder. In my boating area (Long Island's south shore) there are many sandy, shallow spots and small islands that we anchor in and around. When I traverse or anchor in these areas, I have my swing keel up, and the rudder kicks up if it brushes the bottom. My question is, when leaving these areas for deeper waters, how does one get the rudder back down? I tried pushing with a boat hook, it just slides off the trailing edge. I can't reach far enough over the stern rail to get enough leverage to push it down by hand. My only solution has been to remove the rudder into the cockpit and push the blade back into the down position, then reinstall it. Even that is not an easy task, due to the weight of the rudder and the slime coating that makes it slick to handle. Any other ideas? Thanks.Chuck K.12418Merrick, NY

 

[Rich]

Safety Line

Hey Chuck, My rudder (1972) came with a hole drilled in the backside of the kickup portion. I attached a line from there thru the cleat on the top portion of the rudder(the cleat was already in place also), and then to a cleat on the back of the boat. When I want to put the rudder down, I can ride a boat hook down the edge and the rope will stop the boat hooks progress and permit me to push down on the rudder. An added benefit is if the rudder kicks up unexpectedly and falls of the back, the rope will save you from having to buy another rudder.Good Luck

 

[Steve Hall]

Technical Manual idea

Check out the C 22 National Sailing Associations Technical Manual. There is a nice write up in there about a system a guy designed to help get the rudder up and down. A lever thing. Check it out. Another thing I did was sent my brother off the back of the boat and made him jump on the rudder till it dropped down and then locked it in. Hate to lose my bro in the deep blue sea, but that's a risk I was willing to take!