Rudder hitting skeg

[SAWDOC]

Hi Folks
Something I was thinking of tackling over the winter....
Our tiller if left free will swing so far that the side face of the rudder
impacts on the skeg. Obviously tying the tiller prevents this or alternatively
keeping the tiller under control - I was wondering if anyone had experienced
this problem and come up with any creative solutions to prevent the rudder
turning so much? I'm concerned that this repeated impact might cause damage to the rudder.

 

[OGITD]

Devise some stops for the rudder.

Aqua dynamics & the angle of the dangle considered …. but!

I think the maximum should be 45 degrees…. any more than that the rudder acts like a port or starboard brake (not break).... OK....

You can achieve this by (one of the many ways) by taking two appropriate lengths of 40 – 50 x 10mm-ish (I know!.... I’m not an engineer & finished my formal schooling in the 70’s) A4 / 316, bend to 45 degrees factoring in any angle on the skeg in the middle (of the SS bar), and on one half (of each bar) drilling appropriate size holes for appropriate size bolts to allow these to be bolted through the skeg after drilling and sealing the correctly sized and located holes in the skeg.
Point to note:
It might be prudent to bond some rubber to the inside of the stops to reduce any wear / damage to the rudder.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

My rudder stock has a tiller arm (wheel steering) that butts against two ply wood stops (with plastic sacrificial buffers) glassed into the hull to prevent the rudder over turning. This is located within a locker. Perhaps a dummy tiller arm clamped to the stock and stops made up might suffice.

If the rudder stock is in a tube, preventing access, then a thin plate between the stock and tiller head, bolted to the deck / coaming and with stops welded on may give you the support. However, I guess there is almost no room between the tiller and deck coaming to fit a stop plate of any substance.

 

[SAWDOC]

The rudder stop seems ideal. Could anyone post a pic of a typical arrangement?

 

[macd]

The rudder stop seems ideal.

Rigid rudder stops are a bad idea. The shock loadings such as when reacting to heavy wash can be immense (it easily snaps even substantial tiller arms). But equally it's not healthy to have that same energy repeatedly clouting the skeg. Some material or system able to absorb the energy more progressively is the better solution.

 

[mjcoon]

I think the maximum should be 45 degrees…. any more than that the rudder acts like a port or starboard break.

... or brake! But couldn't that be useful sometimes?

MIke.

 

[Tranona]

Stops are quite common, but as noted they need to be very strong or you risk even greater damage. However, if the rudder and skeg are soundly designed and built it is unlikely you will get any damage from allowing the rudder to swing.

 

[Solent sailer]

we have a similar problem, sader 32 and the rudder will hit the skeg. can see how it could be stopped, not a problems when sailing but needs lashing when left.

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

Hi Folks
Something I was thinking of tackling over the winter....
Our tiller if left free will swing so far that the side face of the rudder
impacts on the skeg. Obviously tying the tiller prevents this or alternatively
keeping the tiller under control - I was wondering if anyone had experienced
this problem and come up with any creative solutions to prevent the rudder
turning so much? I'm concerned that this repeated impact might cause damage to the rudder.

photos would help to advise.

 

[bikedaft]

we have a hinged tiller - if its left horizontal the forward end of tiller hits off side cockpit so rudder does not hit skeg.

 

[JimC]

I think the maximum should be 45 degrees…. any more than that the rudder acts like a port or starboard brake

There are instances where you might want to turn your rudder through more than 45 degrees: e.g. If I am (say) port side on to a wall or pontoon with another boat moored close in front of me and I want to get off I can put the tiller right over to starboard so that the rudder is about 60 - 70 degrees to port. A blast of ahead power against that rudder will kick the boat's stern away from the wall so I can get out stern first. The fact that the rudder is so far over across the prop acts like a partial thrust-reverser and stops the boat moving forward appreciably during the burst of ahead power, i.e. it is acting like a brake but that's what's wanted in this situation. The effect is like powering ahead against a spring to get the stern out, but you don't need to rig the spring.