Well, after getting this in-depth posting from Joel on a Sunday night, my immediate thought is that I feel pretty dang good about buying an Idasailor product. I haven't even formally contacted Idasailor yet and they are already addressing my concerns. How often does that happen folks? Joel, thank you for the insight, and tomorrow I'll e-mail Idasailor directly. Jim Poulakis M17 "Spirit" On Oct 26, 2008, at 9:11 PM, IdaSailor Marine wrote:
Jim, All, A better measurement would be from the bottom of the rudder's lowest pintle or gudgeon to the bottom of the aft trailing edge of the rudder.. Measuring from the pivot bolt to the bottom of the rudder could be like comparing apples and oranges, for two reasons: In an attempt to give the best possible product, we have altered the rudderhead's height and position relative to the gudgeons on the transom, the new configuration is very low on the transom. This allows us to position the rudderhead lower on the transom, specifically on the M17 boats that use three pintles, and use a slightly shorter blade overall, with equal or better performance to last year's Unifoil kick-up rudder configuration. Regarding the difference in length between the new configuration and the OEM mahogany rudder, I'm of the opinion that the various "stock" mahogany OEM rudders vary in length, making length comparisons more difficult, boat-on-boat, but ours could easily be a couple inches shorter on any given M17, perhaps longer on another. I could be wrong about the OEM length variation, however, my opinion is formed from interviews with M17 owners and the measurements listed on the worksheets that they submit with their rudder orders. The advantages of building using the lower rudderhead and shorter blade are a slightly lower center of gravity and a rudder blade that is easier to raise from inside the boat with the slightly reduced blade length. Bear in mind that we stand behind our stuff 100%, if you feel strongly that your new rudder will not perform to your requirements, please let me know and we'll take care of it. I would suggest that you sail with the new configuration if you are able (not sure which part of the country you are in, I'm at home and don't have that info with me), I would value any feedback you can give regarding fit, finish and performance under sail. We've sailed hard with the new, shorter configuration this year and were very pleased with it, but ultimately, you need to be pleased with it or we haven't done our job. Let me know your thoughts on this, we'll stand by; thanks very much for your business. Fair winds, -Joel Joel Santarone General Manager IdaSailor Marine Inc. idasailor.com cruisingsupplies.com 866-400-2204 toll free
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Message: 7 Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:09:01 -0700 From: James Poulakis <picfo@comcast.net> Subject: M_Boats: Idasailor Rudder Depth To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Message-ID: <530D774C-DC9B-4382-AD8A-3D0996DD4FDF@comcast.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
Just received the latest Idasailor kick-up rudder and was comparing it side-by-side with the stock mahogany rudder. My Idasailor blade is about 5" shallower then the stock blade when the pintles / rod brackets are matched up. It measures about 34" from the center of the pivot bolt to the bottom of the blade.
In a 2007 posting Bob stated that the "new" Idasailor rudder sat deeper then the standard rudder. But before calling the manufacturer, I was curious what other Idasailor owners had for their rudder depth. (The rudder doesn't need to be mounted, and the measurement from the pivot bolt to bottom of the blade will not change regardless of how the blade is pivoted).
Thanks so much Folks,
Jim Poulakis M17 "Spirit"
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