Rick, I had tried increasing the tension on the shock cord helper, with no results. I just went out to my boat again and really, really increased the tension. It looked like that would help, and then the cord broke. Guess I will try a larger cord next time. Still, there seems like an awful lot of weight/stress on the tiller unit. Bob 1982 M15 #208
Bob,
Try increasing the tension on the shock cord helper. I found that too much tension on the helper cord causes the rudder to kick up when barely lifting the tiller.
Rick Langer M15 #337
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 23:42:36 +0000 From: bobjudy2@comcast.net Subject: Re: M_Boats: Regarding Ida Sailor Marine M15 new rudder (Long) To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Message-ID:
<021620052342.16156.4213DA6C0004779E00003F1C22007614380E0C9D9D0A050C0A0D@com cast.net>
I bought a new rudder from IdaSailor last fall for my M15. My wood rudder
was
42" but I thought I would try a longer one, since I could always cut it off. The longest they offered was 48", so I went with that.
I thought one factor that would limit rudder length would be if it hit the ground while on the trailer. The 42" rudder just cleared the ground when I had my original TrailRite trailer; with my new Pacific trailer, I had more clearance, hence the longer blade was worth a try. I know that this should not be an important consideration from the view of a naval architech, but if I was making something for general sales, I would want to consider some of my 'Damn Fool' clients who would blame me for their mistakes. (I always remove my rudder when launching and recovery, but still occasionally qualify for the DamnFool category)
Long story short: I think the longer rudder sails better, but it is significantly heaver and the kick up feature does not work very well. I haven't figured out if it needs a longer lift lever from the rudder to the tiller, or a more extreme redesign (move the pivot hole?) I do not spend much time in thin water, so I will probably live with the longer rudder and poor kick-up performance. (It will kick-up but not lift-up all the way)
It has also aquired a brownish tint from the crud in SF Bay. I have to wonder if it will retain its original brilliant white color; soap did not seem to clean it.
I hope this long winded narration helps.
Bob 1982 M15 #208
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