rudd er conversion
- Thread starter pamacm
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First, you would need to build a rudder head out of 1/4" Aluminum plate or stainless steel. The rudder head would consist of two halves. To assemble the head you would need spacing bushings which could be made of Nylon or stainless steel for the bolts to go through them. Wood block spacers would also be needed.
I would make a large pattern of your stock rudder so that you can match it up later with the rudder that you are modifying.
In fact, I think that you would be better of building a blade for the rudder head rather than take a chance on screwing up your stock rudder. That way, if anything happens to your rudder, you still have your stock rudder to throw on there.
The blade would be designed with a flat spot on the upper bout where it can butt up against the wood block in the rudder head when the blade is completely down.
A 5/6" rudder pendant line would be needed to hold the rudder in the down position. The line would be attached to the back of the upper bout and come up through the inside back of the rudder head, over a bushing and under the tiller to a fair-lead open clam cleat mounted mid way under the tiller.
I remember one guy on one of these forums who built his own tip up rudder for his O'Day 25 years ago and it came out great. One of my friend built one for his Bayliner Buccaneer day sailer and that one came out great. It's doable.
I have an extra pendant line on my O'Day 222 tip up rudder which holds the rudder blade in the up position. It's only used when I launch my boat with the rudder on the transom and the tiller roped off in the center. I also leave the blade in the up position whenever I leave my boat on the mooring or anchoring in shallow water.
With that said, you never want to try and sail you boat with the rudder blade partially up. You'll not only experience excessive weather helm but there's a chance that the rudder blade can flex and snap in two.
If you need pics, I'll send them to you. Email me at sailtrinkka1986@verizon.net
rudder conversion
the reply was helpful; i would like pictures and plans . if i had those, i could start building my kick up rudder.
the reply was helpful; i would like pictures and plans . if i had those, i could start building my kick up rudder.
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