I have an American fiberglass 21 foot sailboat and the rudder for the boat is a lot bigger and thicker than most other boats its size I have seen. It also weighs probably 50-60 lbs. I wonder if someone has added weight or fiberglass to the original for some reason
Rudder issue
- Thread starter Armyaviation
- Start date
Anything is possible in the years since your boat was produced. Someone (an unknown PO: aka Previous Owner) could have rebuilt the rudder using plywood and epoxy after removing foam or some other light weight coring material. Look at the edges/seams for signs of repairs. If the rudder can remain in place while the boat is carried on the trailer you will be OK with the extra weight, I think.
I looked at the pictures you posted with your first question regarding information about your boat. It looks like a project to get the rudder and rudder post out of the boat. Do you need to remove the rudder in order to trailer the boat? Many trailer-boats have transom hung rudders that are attached using gudgeons and pintles. The method on your boat has the rudder shaft going through the hull because of the shape of the transom.
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Mine has to be removed. There is an aluminum bracket that swings up when on trailer. When in use it swings down and the bracket sits flush with the transom due to a cutout.
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It appears that you trailer sail the boat, but is it possible that the rudder is waterlogged?
No clue. It is solid and last owner painted it with anti fouling paint. I saw pics of it years ago and it was white and looked good. Is there a way to tell. Are they usually that heavy
I just finished sailing lessons and put my newly acquired 21' american fiberglass boat in the water. After tuning and rigging we gave it a try last night. After being blown downwind for awhile we realized we forgot to lower the vertically retractable keel. I winched the cable all the way down and we heard the keel knocking back and forth with the waves. I'm not sure if this is normal or if something is wrong. My wife was quite nervous and we motored back to the dock. I am going to take a swim and look at it today. It didn't seem like there was any kind of locking mechanism. Am I missing something or is this the way these boats are supposed to be?
Well it turns out I didn't know how to lower a retractable keel. It doesn't seat itself on the hull like I assumed it would. It goes right out the bottom of the boat and flops around like a wind chime. The only way to get it back in the slot was to go for a swim and see how long I could hold my breath while my wife worked the winch. I marked the cable with white gorrilla tape to make sure I don't lower it to far again. It only took 4 or 5 tries to line it up. We gave it a try and had a beautiful sail on a perfect night on lake Ontario. Thanks to Tom in Alabama who has the same boat and talked to me on the phone and everyone who gave me some clues.