Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
Its time for a new rudder. I've got the plywood core rudder and its getting soft. Its only a matter of time before it makes me call tow boats.
I'm seriously considering paying the extra boat bucks and getting the kick up rudder. For those that don't know, If I jumped overboard 3 miles out at low tide, I'd only be in chest deep water. I've drug the rudder a few times now, but have gotten in the habit of dropping the keel a few turns to protect it a bit. Still, I don't like that it can hit if I forget to lower the keel some.
I've looked at the one on Catalina Direct, and its listed as balanced, but it doesn't look like it has as much rudder in front of the pintles as the regular balanced rudder. For those of you that have them, how do they sail?
My rig is fairly balanced, and I don't have to fight the rudder unless the winds pick up, but it would be nice to have a lighter tiller for the girls.
There shouldn't be anything that prevents a rudder from being both balanced and kick-up. The Ruddercraft kick-up rudders are balanced for instance.
I didn't like my Ruddercraft rudder and would look for other options (like Foss Foam), but you should be able to find both characteristics in one rudder.
Alex W Seattle, WA Express 37 "re-Quest" previously owned 1984 Catalina 25 "Lutra"
Where do you sail out of? Sounds like some really shallow waters. Hopefully a soft bottom. If you're planning to keep the boat in the sailing area or even marketing it in that area I would think that the kick-up rudder would be a selling point/feature. Thats like the opposite of trying to sell a boat in the area with a 10' bulb keel. Good luck with that! I love my Foss Foam (Florida, not California) rudder but I am not sure if they make a kick up.
Captain Rob & Admiral Alyson "David Buoy"-1985 C25 SK/SR #5053
I vaguely recall Arlyn Stewart, our past C-250 guru (especially regarding rudders), modifying his kick-up rudder so that it swung down a few degrees past vertical (raked slightly forward) to add some balance. The mod could be pretty simple with a solid HDPE blade, which cuts like very hard soap--you might need to remove a fraction of an inch from the spot that stops the downward motion. (I'd do it in very small increments.) You might want to talk to CD or Ruddercraft about it...
Dave Bristle Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired), Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge
I sail out of Hudson, FL. It's north of Clearwater by about 30 miles or so. Its shallow, but has a soft bottom with the occasional rock. The times I've gotten in trouble is giving way to bigger boats. One of the times, a monster cruiser came down the channel under full power and the wake pushed me out. The channel can get skinny real quick and its easy to run out of it. The shrimpers I meet coming back in pull more draft than I do, and they aren't the kind of fellows that share the channel well. Even if they could give, they wouldn't.
I'll take a look at Foss Foam and see what they offer.
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.