Rudder Up or Down????

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D

Dan Ulrich

Just wondering, do any of you with a 23 leave the rudder down or allow it to float in the up position while at the slip unattended? If your answer is "up" why?
 
R

Ray K

Up last year

My 23 is on a mooring buoy. Last year it was in the floting "up" position for no apparent reason. This year I've been keeping it in the down position & it seams to "sail" around the bouy on windy days a little more than last year. I don't know if it makes a difference one way or the other when your at a slip. My problem is the alge build up on the rudder during the season. I'm trying to figure out the best way to halt that! I have to look into whether they make a white bottom paint to correct the problem. Ray K
 
C

Chris

Down

in the sailing position. The only time it comes up is if it bottoms out in shallow water, then I partially raise it until we are clear.
 
Jun 22, 2004
71
Hunter 240 GREENVILLE,SC
keeps it clean

when I had my 240 on a slip, I tried to keep it up,just to keep the nasty pond scum off. Also I have discovered hull blisters on the rudder after only 2 years.
 
J

jim kolstoe

keep it down

We keep our boat in a slip with the motor tipped up and the rudder down. I am concered about it being damaged in the up position as its seems more vulnerable to torque there. I applied marinetex as filler and coated the entire blade with epoxy after a friend I loaned the boat to managed to damage it on the propeller. No water penetration problems. Lacking antifouling paint, I just jump in and scrub it periodically with a wax stripper pad. Jim Kolstoe, h23 Kara's Boo
 
Jun 14, 2004
166
Hunter 260 Portland, OR
George, on the 260 rudder...

do you have any problem realigning the rubber gasket shear pin holes when raising on a regular basis? I tried raising while in a slip, but fought the alignment issue while leaning over the transom, and went back to leaving it down.
 
B

Bob

Up position

I leave mine in the up position at the dock between sails. This prevents slime buildup and excessive movement of the rudder and wheel from excessive wakes in my "no wake" zone. I don't use the shear pins and cleat the uphaul or downhaul lines off on the cleat at the top of the post. If you reconfigure the lines per the diagram in the manual, it works very easy.
 
Aug 11, 2006
1,446
Hunter H260 Traverse City
260 Rudder Red Gasket

I used 3m5200 to glue the gaskets to the bracket and it will not move ever.
 
B

Benny

To leave the rudder down is...

a covenience and it was designed to allow for it to stay down when the boat is in the water. Now, it needs to be painted with anti-fouling paint, to the waterline,the same as the hull. If there is laminate separation and the rudder is getting soggy when down it is past its time to be repaired or replaced. It is not a matter of if it will break but more of a matter of when. Out in the water in rough weather it could be a problem.
 
Feb 7, 2005
132
Hunter 23 Mentor, Ohio
Rudder up

PO added a little roller/bracket to the aft edge of our H23 rudder. I run the downhaul back through it (heading down) then pull it back up (towards myself) and the rudder comes up of the water with it. I lash the line to the tiller or to itself with 2 half hitches to hold the rudder all the way up out of the water.
 
B

Bill Leathen

Up - due to water depth

The water depth on the way into my slip is so shallow, that I have to come into the dock with the rudder at least part way up. At the slip, the rudder could be down, but I leave it up. I just finished a repair on a hairline crack that developed where the two fiberglass panels fit together. I believe the crack developed because I had coated the rudder with brown VC17. I believe the part of the rudder that is out of the water got hot and the crack developed along the longitudnal seam above the water line. You could slide a feeler guage in about 4" at the seam. Now that is fixed, I have removed the VC17 from the rudder and all is fine - except that I need to find a coating to keep the zebra muscels off that does not get so hot. Any ideas? Thanks,
 
May 27, 2004
225
- - Boston
Rudder up on H260

When the boat is at rest on the mooring, my rudder is pinned in the up position to save wear and tear on the helm components. In order to pin/unpin the rudder, I use the end of the uphaul line, looped around the rudder to control it with my left hand (arm looped through the stern rail to keep me on the boat) so that I can insert or remove the retaining pin. I squat down on the swim platform and can reach it fairly easily. Fair winds, Tom
 
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