Any Sportina owners?

[T700NNY]

Hi,
I have a Sportina 760 and looking for any owners or past owners that can help me.
It is my first sailing boat after having many fast sports boats, therefore quite new to sailing, in fact never sailed before I took ownership of this boat.
I am having a bit of difficulty with the rudder lowering system and the rope used to lift it up doesn't want to move.
When I bought the boat the rudder was removed for transportation and I installed it the way I thought it should be down and it seemed to move up and down when on the trailer.
Now it is the water, I cannot get it to budge and I want to take it out of the water but frightened of damaging it on the slipway getting it back on the trailer.
The keel lift works fine.
Any advice?

 

[TrailerSailer]

Hi I used to have one many years ago (sold in 2008). A nice boat which we really enjoyed for local coastal work. Trailing it was a bit of a trial due to the weight, but we took it from Chichester Harbour and Southampton Water to Torbay and Milford Haven for some great adventures.

Anyway back to your problem... IIRC the rudder arrangement has 2 ropes in it - one to raise and one to lower. There are some guide wheels (and I put a doubling pulley to make life easier in mine) and the lines can jump off trapping themselves between the wheels and the stainless steel rudder housing. The rudder is fairly robust being made of a single piece of glass fibre but you need to ensure it can move.
I've just been looking through some old photos to see if I have the running arrangement, but alas no. What I did find is a picture showing the rudder with a line attached to the trailing edge of the rudder. That reminded me that I used this to a) give the rudder a tug in the right direction to start it raising up and b) use it to hold it in the "up" position as the really struggled to hold it up and I'd often put the boat onto the trailer only to find the rudder dropping to the concrete slipway.

Not sure if any of this helps, but PM me your phone number if you want to have a chat.

 

[Mountnessie]

I have one. As Pete says there are two lines down through the rudder tube. These attach to tangs on the rudder plate at angles to control upward and downward movement. The plate has positive flotation so when in the fully down position it can require quite a pull to get it moving up.
When I got mine it was delivered with the rudder plate removed... I bolted it on the wrong way round and discovered it wouldn't go all the way down... but that wouldn't cause it to jam.
Did it move freely when you lowered it?
Probably stating the obvious but is the "down" rope (usually nearest starboard side) free and not cleated?
If you are on a pontoon berth you can easily get a rope around the plate and give a pull on it to get it to raise.
Mine is out of the water at the moment so if you want specific pics.. pm me.

 

[T700NNY]

thanks for the reply guys,
when in the yard on the trailer, the rudder seemed to move freely, so much so that I couldn't get it to stay up with the rope cleated.
I have the 2 ropes down through the tube as described and I don't think I have the rudder the wrong way round
Once in the water, I struggled to get it to go down, had to give it a push with the boat hook as well as pulling the 'down' rope.
Once it is fully down, I cannot get it to come up at all, I have tried putting the rope on the winch but that doesn't move it.
There has been a couple of times when I have been out under power and the 'down' rope has uncleated and the rudder has raised itself, I imagine due to the force of the water from the prop so I know it can move, I just cant get it to move with the rope.
I'll send a pm for pics,
thanks for your help

 

[Russ Woodland]

Hi everyone, I've just bought a Sportina 760 from ebay - bit of a punt but it was too cheap to let go. Does anyone have any owners manual or information that they could send me?

Many thanks, Russ

 

[Russ Woodland]

Hi,
I have a Sportina 760 and looking for any owners or past owners that can help me.
It is my first sailing boat after having many fast sports boats, therefore quite new to sailing, in fact never sailed before I took ownership of this boat.
I am having a bit of difficulty with the rudder lowering system and the rope used to lift it up doesn't want to move.
When I bought the boat the rudder was removed for transportation and I installed it the way I thought it should be down and it seemed to move up and down when on the trailer.
Now it is the water, I cannot get it to budge and I want to take it out of the water but frightened of damaging it on the slipway getting it back on the trailer.
The keel lift works fine.
Any advice?

Hi Tony,

Do you have any owners' manual for your boat that I could buy a copy of?