Howard, The small notch you refer to in the rudder blade behind the skeg is a non-standard modification for my boat. My gudgeons are different from the stock model and the pintles are only 3/4 inch from the transom when inserted. That didn't leave enough room for the forward stepped leading edge of the blade to clear the transom, hence the "notch". The "balanced" feature of the blade is similar to my original rudder, which was the way Lyle Hess designed them, before the rudders were redesigned to be raisable. It is a very sweet handling high performance rudder, not much weather helm (dependent on your rigging), but not "dead" at all to my way of thinking. I hope the new kick-up blade performs the same. Larry On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 10:09:42 -0600 Howard Audsley <haudsley@tranquility.net> writes:
Offhand, I can't imagine how a line through a cleat is going to release on it's own, but I'm sure it must. I'd like to see how that works. The concept of a line releasing from a cleat on it's own just doesn't seem right.
I'm aware of one such kick-up rudder design, where the rudder blade pivots on a bolt or pin at the aft edge of the rudder. On the forward edge of the rudder is a spring loaded pin that has enough friction/force to hold the rudder in place during normal loads. The pin is on the top half of the rudder. Right above that is cam on the bottom half...the part in the water. In this design, an impact has enough leverage aft to force the small cam on the rudders blade to push the pin out and release the rudder blade to pivot out of the water . You then use a line like you describe to reset it forward. Normally, there isn't any tension on the line, which just hangs loose.
For those who frequently encounter shallow water and groundings, this could be a really good deal, as a severe grounding with a stock rudder can damage the rudder, the rudder pin and if bad enough, the transom too.
I also notice the foil of the new rudder extends forward under the skeg, giving a more balanced rudder design. Curious to see how this is going to affect weather helm and the "feel" of the tiller. Hopefully, it is only partially balanced and not "dead". Also curious to see how that small notch at the aft end of the skeg affects drag, if any. It is below the waterline and in a turbulent flow area. It may turn out to be a great improvement. Just curious to see how it turns out.
And lastly, I'd be curious to see if you can steer with the rudder kicked up. As in what happens when you find yourself sailing in 20 inches of water? Will it still steer the boat without damaging the rudder?
Howard M17, #278
------ Forwarded Message From: Larry E Yake <leyake@juno.com> Reply-To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2005 07:24:50 -0800 To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: M_Boats: M17 Kick-up rudder
The rudder blade is held down by cinching up and cleating off the line on the front of the rudder. On impact, the cleat releases and allows the blade to pivot on the bolt. You then just tighten that line back up to pull the blade back down, cleat it, on you're on your way. Larry
On Thu, 3 Mar 2005 07:11:55 -0600 "Gilbert Landin" <gilbert@mindgame.com> writes:
Randys pictures sure look good. It just seems the one tension bolt would make it hard for the bottom part to stay horizontal on a good sail.
gil ----- Original Message ----- From: "Larry E Yake" <leyake@juno.com> To: <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 11:20 PM Subject: M_Boats: M17 Kick-up rudder
My new kick-up rudder from Ida Sailor arrived this week. I'm impressed. It fits perfect and the workmanship is top notch. Can't wait for spring to try it out. All I have to do is drill the tiller pivot bolt hole, since I'm using my old tiller. Randy Graves added some pictures of it to his website at http://sailing.gravesfam.us . It has some custom modifications to fit my non-standard gudgeons, and I had the optional releasing jam cleat added, but the basic design will be the same for the standard M17 setup.
Larry Yake M17 #200 Tullamore "In a power boat you get there faster. In a sailboat you're already there."
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