Seawych Rudder fittings

[Newboy6458]

Does anyone know of a supplier for the rudder fittings for a Seawych 19 please (VicS?).

I've just acquired a project for my lad to sail with his friends, but the rudder is missing. Stern fittings seem ok.

I will be rejoining the SWOA but thought a quick post on here first might be useful.

Many thanks

Phil

 

[VicS]

Does anyone know of a supplier for the rudder fittings for a Seawych 19 please (VicS?).

I've just acquired a project for my lad to sail with his friends, but the rudder is missing. Stern fittings seem ok.

I will be rejoining the SWOA but thought a quick post on here first might be useful.

Many thanks

Phil

They were made specifically for the Sea Wych so no off the shelf replacements available.

The rudder and in particular its gudgeon and pintle are probably the weakest part of the whole boat.

The rudders appear to have been built with mild steel screws which rust away, the gudgeon and pintle can then pull out. They are barely strong enough anyway and once they start to pull out they can fail catastrophically.

The problem really came to light when Roy Sallabanks' rudder failed on a cross channel trip.

I am also dubious about the glue used in the rudder construction, having seen photos of one which completely came apart

It has to be said though that vey few have actually failed. Looked after and with awareness of the potential problems many, mine included, have survived with no troubles.

However there are designs for more sturdy replacement fittings in the owners manual which is available to members of the SWOA, both in printed form or as a free download from the website.

There is also a design (by Roy Sallabanks) for a modification to the rudder blade to give a semi balanced rudder and somewhere in the owners forum an idea for a semibalanced rudder starting from scratch.

 

[VicS]

A modified rudder, similar to R. Sallabanks' design

And my idea for a the design of a new semibalanced rudder

 

[Newboy6458]

Cheers Vic,
Looks very smart.

Any idea of the diameters of the gudgeon and pintle. I'm away from the boat and haven't measured them yet.

Looks like Ill have to get some made up.

Cheers

Phil

 

[VicS]

1/2"

recommend you download the manual ASAP as that has fully detailed and dimensioned drawings of replacements with fixing straps that fit on the outside of the rudder stock rather than the flimsy originals sandwiched within the structure ( below), although if you are building a whole new rudder you could make them fit like the originals but thicker.