Mariner rudder setup

[jamescg]

Hi all. New to the forums and have a question about my Mariner's rudder. Can someone send me pictures of how you have the lines run and connected to your rudder? I recently got this boat and am trying to figure out how to set things up. Rigging pictures would be helpful, too. I've had it out once so far and everything worked but I have a feeling I don't have it quite right. Thanks in advance!

 

[SchwarckT]

With my boat a wire ran from the upper leading edge of the rudder blade up to the underside of the tiller where it fastened to a cleat. It never really worked well and I was always having trouble keeping the rudder blade down. The boat also had a lot of weather helm when heeled over. So I decided to make a new rudder. I patterned it after one that I had bought from Ida sailor for my 22'er. Now there is almost no weather helm and much better control. It also seems to be faster. I like the Mariner a lot, but the factory rudder seems to be a weak point.

www.iheartodays.com

 

[Sunbird22358]

SchwarkT, I suspect that the "weather helm" that you felt was caused by the rudder blade kicking up slightly (you mention trouble keeping it down), I know that I can always tell when the blade has kicked up a bit on my DS II and my Widgeon was the same way, with the blade fully down the helm is much lighter! The MARINER/RHODES 19 rudder design is fine, it just has the usual problem of many kick-up rudders..... the more the blade is kicked up, the more load felt on the tiller, Every boat that I've ever sailed with a kick-up rudder has had this problem. I'm still brainstorming a way to hold the blade down on my DS II, yet let it kick up instantly if I hit bottom.

 

[SchwarckT]

I tried modifying the factory rudder blade by installing a shear pin to hold it down which worked but did not change the "feel". The factory blade is also mostly flat sided with some taper. I read an article once about how rudders should have an elliptical shape for better speed and control. Seems to work.