Rudder steer instead of engine steer?

[microvise]

With my outboard mounted to the bracket rather than the transom it becomes very uncomfortable to steer for any length of time. This is because I have to reach quite a long way back, over the picnic box on my skipper 14, to hold the tiller arm of the motor. I am reluctant to extend the tiller arm on my outboard and would very much favour locking the outboards steering movement and using the rudder to steer. I normally would remove the rudder and steer using the outboard. Thus making rudder something else to trip on.

When the outboard and the rudder blade are lowered the blade of the rudder ends up forward of the propeller. Given that on most boats the prop is normally forward of the rudder is this going to cause me any problems? For example are excessive amounts of force going to be place on the rudder blade?

I have also been told to retract the centreboard when under motor. Is this necessary?

Any response appreciated.


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[paulrossall]

I had a Skipper 17 and dealt with your problem. I put the engine pointing straight ahead and steered with the tiller. You have to make sure the tiller does not foul the engine when you put it on full lock. Also have to be carefull in shallow water if your tiller is the sort that tilts up as when it is tilted up if will probably hit the propellor if you are not carefull.
My engine had an adjustment on it so you could tighten a clamp which made it more difficult for the engine to turn. Every so often I would appear to be going in a funny direction and it was because the engine had changed direction on its own.
It will not cause you a problem if the tiller is forward of the engine as your tiller will be large enough to steer OK with the flow of water over it.
If you need to do very tight manouvers you might need to steer with both the tiller and outboard at the same time.
Good Luck.Paul

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[surekandoo]

I steer with the rudder and have the outboard clamped so that it doesn't steer inadvertantly. I only use the outboard steering when reversing out of the berth. The rudder will only allow steerage when you're underway, so if you are stopped and need to do a quick manouevre, use the outboard steering WITH the rudder.

Not sure about your centreboard, but I wouldn't have thought it would have made much difference whether up or down. It's something you can experiment with.

Have lots of fun sailing. ;-)

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[microvise]

Thanks for your replies guys. I was hoping that it would be ok but thought I’d better check that there wasn’t some technical reasons why I shouldn’t steer this way. I will check to see if the prop is likely to foul the rudder blade at the weekend. If it does I could always hook on a short line between the transom and the rudder when under power to restrict its movement. I may even be able to somehow connect the tiller arms together using a pole and a pivot each end. This would perhaps make for some quite responsive steering!

As for the centreboard, I may need to assess the forces that may be acting upon it when under power. I can’t believe they would be any greater than when under sail.

Cheers again,

Nick

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[chriscallender]

On my old boat, there was a small wheel attached to the side of the engine, such that it would contact with the rudder blade before the propeller did and they could not collide.

That made it impossible for the prop to take away a chunk of rudder!!!!

Chris

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