Rudder pin

[weedstomper]

New to a Hunter 260 swing keel. Does the rudder have to be secured into the down position with a through-pin, or just held by the cleated pull-up rope?

Noticed a metal pin held by a short chain near the rudder mount and a through-hole in the rudder near the pivot bolt.

Any comment will be appreciated,

Albert

 

[BobSail]

My 260 has two holes and two pins on chains. One is plastic and one is metal. I use the plastic one in the rudder hole while sailing as a safety for accidental grounding. The pin will break and allow the rudder to swing up. I don't cleat the pull-up rope for that reason. You can probably purchase the plastic pin from Phil on this site.

For trailering, I use the metal pin with the rudder pivoted in the up position, and also cleat the pull-up rope.

Hope that helps.

 

[weedstomper]

Thank you this is useful information. Much appreciated.

Albert

 

[Deucer]

Go here to buy shear pins.

http://www.ruddercraft.com/catalog/...d=298&osCsid=8581190de9d96cef950976ee0c26a5c0

If you use the downhaul line to hold the rudder down, it will creep up and you'll have excessive force on the tiller. Put the plastic pin in, and loosely time the downhaul line. That will keep you from completely loosing rudder control if you ground the rudder. Of course, you'll drag the keel first, if it's down.

 

[weedstomper]

got pins

Thanks Deucer,

Got the RudderCraft pins!

 

[Deucer]

Re: got pins

You're welcome. I always try to have 4-6 handy. Water's pretty thin on the coast of Mississippi, so we've managed to pop a couple. You might want to keep smaller diameter screw driver and a thick blade putty knife handy. If you break a pin, it's not always clean and you have to pick pieces between the rudder and the plates. A real pain.

Just for additional info, I use a bolt and wing nut to secure the rudder up for travel.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Let me make one strong but rather important suggestion. I have seen the rudder come down during trailering with the metal pin in place thinking all was ok. I had a semi honk his horn and I pulled over and low and behold I saw the perfect half rudder where it had been sanded perfectly when the first 26 came out. After that I always tied the rudder blade in the up position with a line or rope to the port stern rail and never lost another rudder which included traveling to the west part of Canada from the east coast of the U.S.. or even in transit to Europe, Australia and even China although they were transported by ship. So what I am saying in transport, always do what my customers were taught and rope up that rudder when traveling.

crazy dave condon

 

[Deucer]

Crazy Dave,

Thanks for adding that. I also always tie the rudder up. I'm definitely a belts and suspenders type of sailor.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Deucer;

If anything, I wrote the book on the 260 and probably sold 20-25% of the entire production line out of all the dealers. My advice is based solely on knowledge and experience. Some disagree with me but many of those kicked themselves afterwards. However, I am always open to new ideas some of which sound good. One good piece of advice is always one project at a time versus multiple projects which tend to overwhelm most.

dave condon

crazy dave