O'day 222 Rudder

[anchorclanker]

I thought this question was generic enough that most of the old salts could answer it.

I yanked the rudder off and brought it home the other day. I wanted to clean it up and maybe paint it, see if it needs any repairs etc., get her ready before the season starts.

Its a swing up keel with a down haul rope under the tiller, but the rudder is so stiff, clamped between the two metal plates, it barely moves even with great force. There is no way I could draw the rudder back down if it was pushed back for any reason, I would have to go overboard and physically push it down by hand.

So the question is, how loose should it be? Should it be loose enough to fall on its own, floppy loose? The rope locks under the tiller, may I assume the rope is strong enough to keep it from swinging from water drag? And what of an up haul rope? Is one needed?

 

[jibes138]

Two reasons I can think of to raise it, one would an unintentional ground or an intentional grounding on the beach. The second would be to avoid marine growth on it by raising it above the water line. A thrid might be when you trailer the boat for ground clearance. Since you are in a lake the second shouldn't be too important. For the first it should be enough drag to hold it down by its' own weight but allow it to move if impacted by hitting bottom. I have a sailing dinghy with a swing up rudder I built. I tighten the screw enough that I have to push it down by hand but it will swing up if it hits bottom which it often does in the shoally areas i sail it.

 

[Griffinroydonald]

I have a San Juan 23 with a flip up rudder. I can move it by hand with little effort. There is a pin that holds it up and in the down position. The rudder stays in place when towing and this makes life much easier. The pin must be in place when in the down position as when left out the rudder flips up and you have no control.

 

[rgranger]

Here is how I have my up and down haul.

And yes, you want it to move more freely that what you have described. Try adding a few SS washer between the plates.

 

[anchorclanker]

Thanks guys, some things to think about.

Jibes, mine wont tilt up enough to come out of the water, so its not an option. I was more interested in returning it to the down position should a strike occur. Or be able to pull it up by rope for whatever reason.

Griffin, I dont believe you want it pinned in the down position, what would happen if you ran aground?

Rgranger, mine is similar, but the upper is all aluminum. Yours has a cleat to tie off your down haul line, where mine has a line lock fastened under the tiller. I think I like that cleat arrangement, but in both our cases, what would happen if we ran aground?

It would seem the line should be light enough to snap, or the locking mechanism should have some sort of clutch?

 

[rgranger]

Someone on this list serve once posted a picture of a hinged rope clutch that is made just for this purpose. It pops if enough strain is placed upon it. I thought I bookmarked the page but can't seem to find it now.... and I don't remember what it was called.

Maybe start a new thread and I bet you get your answer fast....

 

[anchorclanker]

I did some poking around, looks like some even use stainless cable? Maybe running aground isnt something were supposed to plan for, lol.

 

[rgranger]

Think I found it...

 

[rgranger]

Or maybe it was this one...

 

[rgranger]

And here it is at West Marine

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...001&partNumber=1158443&langId=-1#.UPWUUmegyHs


You could take my earlier design and swap out the cleat for a padeye and then put one of these in line with the rope. And a standard cam cleat to hold it in the up position and you should have what you are looking for.

 

[RobG]

Anchorclanker,

I had the same rudder on my '87 222 and the same issue. If yours doesn't already have it...the through bolt should go through an SS tubular spacer glassed into the pivot hole in the rudder. The alum plates tighten against it instead of the rudder stuck. I played with building it up with thin SS washers until I had free movement but no wiggle. The original design had the "hold down line" where there is an anchor point for it molded into the rudder stock and a path up to the tiller including a guide tube. I replaced the shot one with 3/16 single braid high tech low streach line (your choice of what ever you can find). I initially added a regular jamb cleat but eventually replaced it with the one shown above by rgranger. It held down the rudder well. At the mooring with the line released the rudder would pop up because it wanted to float. I'd then sling a bungy around it and haul it up as far as it would go to get it out of the water eventually removing the lowest aft spacer for the alum plates so it would lift completely out. I had the boat on a mooring and the constant motion was wearing out the pintles. It all worked well.
Rob

 

[anchorclanker]

Rob, and Rgranger, thank you both.

Rob, I was not sure if the rudder would lift out of the water, thanks for sharing that. However, I tie off the tiller so it stays pretty solid, and the lake is quite calm, not a lot of wave action back in the cove.

Rg, thanks for finding those