I had the lifting apparatus removed from my M-15 rudder nearly 25 years because was tired of popping it up when I tugged the handle a bit harder than I needed. I continue to sail my M-15 many years later with the rudder always down and have not had any problem in that regard. Steve M-15 # 335 ----- Original Message ----- From: <jerry@jerrymontgomery.org> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2015 8:12 AM Subject: Re: M_Boats: M15 Rudder Lifting Mechanism It ain't easy, Howard, but it's the same principle we used on the Sage 17 and will use on the SageCat. it's basically a pushrod that works off the tiller, and connects to the rudder with a toggle that has to be the same distance off the tiller whether the rudder is up or down. A bungee keeps down-tension on the tiller which holds the rudder blade either up or down, and the momentum of the blade moves it past the hi spot when you lift up smartly and then push down on the tiller. Maybe Dave will post a pix of the Sage setup, or maybe one of Sal's M-15. Or both. The biggest problem is setting the bolts for the pintles so that they don't interfere with the rod moving. This is hard to explain but you can see it in the pix. A couple of the bolts need to be flat head machine screws, with the nuts on the outside, and for sure use Nylock nuts. We use 1/4-20 screws and bolts in the Sage, but if it's a much bigger and heavier boat don't hesitate to go bigger. There has never been a failure that I know of with this setup in nearly 500 M-15's that I made in addition to the 30 or so Sages, and the few complaints have been that you can't raise the tiller to tack when you have a crowded cockpit, which is a very small price to pay for a brilliant setup. Ron Holder and I first saw the setup on a big catamaran- my memory fails me- and stole the idea with their permission. They stole the idea with permission from a home-made boat they saw in England. A few years ago I bought a hundred-dollar junked-out Banshee, which is a 14' planing singlehander, and used the same mechanics to make a rudder. I haven't used it yet because I set the project aside when I started on the SageCat project so it's stuffed in my garage. I'll get it together when I finish the new Sage and I'll show them young Banshee punks how to sail. You bet. Good luck! Jerry -----Original Message----- From: Dave Scobie Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2015 6:34 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: M15 Rudder Lifting Mechanism Do you have a rudder, our are you wanting to build one from scratch? :: Dave Scobie :: M17 #375 SWEET PEA :: Former M15 owner On Apr 2, 2015 6:49 AM, "Howard Audsley" <haudsley@tranquility.net> wrote:
Does anyone have a diagram that shows the mechanics of the lifting mechanism used on the M15 rudder?
It has been about 10 years since I've seen one in operation, but recall thinking it to be an engineering marvel.
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