dukes4monny
Well-Known Member
I think that the OP's phrase "The rudder isn't particularly heavy just unresponsive." is the most telling. This suggests to me that is more of a 'rudder' than 'yacht balance' problem.
It does sound like a very similar issue to what I am experiencing with my yacht.
My tillerpilot struggles to keep a good course, even when off the wind and will spend a lot of time at it's extreme travels.
The helm is 'vague' through about 7 - 8 deg either side of straight ahead, and because of this, when hit by a gust I have to give a fistful of rudder to prevent her screwing up into the wind, which is then just acting like a big brake.............
I think that another possible exaggerating factor with my own yacht is the proximity of the large 3 bladed prop which is very close to the existing rudder.....in fact it 'shields' the semi-balanced part of the existing rudder.
I was originally planning on fitting a new feathering prop, but will try a new rudder first and maybe remove the prop next season for a test sail without it to see how much of a difference that this makes.
Unfortunately the shape of my existing rudder does not lend itself to easy modifications.
Here are a couple of interesting articles which I have found on the subject:
http://www.philsfoils.com/designTips.html
http://www.blumhorst.com/catalina27/catalina-27-rudders.htm
It does sound like a very similar issue to what I am experiencing with my yacht.
My tillerpilot struggles to keep a good course, even when off the wind and will spend a lot of time at it's extreme travels.
The helm is 'vague' through about 7 - 8 deg either side of straight ahead, and because of this, when hit by a gust I have to give a fistful of rudder to prevent her screwing up into the wind, which is then just acting like a big brake.............
I think that another possible exaggerating factor with my own yacht is the proximity of the large 3 bladed prop which is very close to the existing rudder.....in fact it 'shields' the semi-balanced part of the existing rudder.
I was originally planning on fitting a new feathering prop, but will try a new rudder first and maybe remove the prop next season for a test sail without it to see how much of a difference that this makes.
Unfortunately the shape of my existing rudder does not lend itself to easy modifications.
Here are a couple of interesting articles which I have found on the subject:
http://www.philsfoils.com/designTips.html
http://www.blumhorst.com/catalina27/catalina-27-rudders.htm
