Does anyone out there have any experience of fitting a ruddersafe to a Bayliner (Mercruiser outdrive) or similar, to improve low speed course holding and handling. Does it do what the makers claim?
I think we've done this before, try doing a search on this board. My experience was fitting a ruddersafe to a Bayliner 2651 with a mercruiser. I fitted it because we were visiting the Broads and I had been assured by a freind on a MBM cruise in company that they were fantastic.
The truth is that I could tell no difference, when I took the boat out of the water at the end of the week the thing had fallen off !!
I don't want to put these down for all boats since my freind with a Hardy really did rate them.
Yes, this has come up at the end of last year.
See thread by syd(regular) Thu Dec 6 08:07:58 2001 'Outdrive Add Ons'
You will see I had experience /views. I now have a ruddersafe which will be installed on one leg of my twin 270's on Princess 32 before it is relaunched later this month
Hiya Jerry,
As boatone says we had a bit of a discussion on the Ruddersafe some time ago. Since then I have asked other owners both here and in the USA and they seem split on 'Ruddersafe's' efficiency, some thought it was the dogs goolies while others said it seemed to make no difference. I've just bought a Bayliner 2556 which I have only driven for one hour before it went into winter storage, I must admit its low speed handling was a bit of a nightmare but I put this down to it being new to me, especially after being used to a twin engined Princess.
I made up my mind to gain more experience without the 'Ruddersafe' for now and see if I can get the hang of it without doing too much damage. If however I fail or run out of claims forms I will deffinately try the Ruddersafe.
Have you had your Bayliner long? Are they that bad at low speeds? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Sid
Many thanks for the replies, Just the sort of info I needed. I think I will get one and make sure it`s well fixed on!
For Syd, the low speed handling of my Bayliner is bearable though crosswinds are a bugger and lots of fenders are a must. The real pain is the course holding, which requires constant steering input to keep going in a straight line which you can get used to but takes some pleasure out of enjoying the view. More importantly my wife refuses to drive unless I have something important to do!