Rudder Problems

[ianrmaciver]

Having found water in the rudder casing, and then seen the posts on Ladybird and Kaliope , I am a little spooked. The thought of floating rudderless in the North Sea is not appealing.
The repairs carried out by Ian and Chris do look reassuringly rugged , and I would like to follow their lead.
Any updates / comments re the repairs and would it be possible to have drawings/details.
Re. the water ingress , the view seems to be that this is a result of gaps at the pintle ( solved by re-fixing with Sikaflex ) or cracks in the gelcoat / laminate on the leading edge.
Any further views on causes/treatment , and steps to dry out the core?
Ian

[Greybeard]

All this looks a bit scary to a new lad!
I had been thinking of fitting a sculling rowlock to Falcon's transom (I like to scull without resorting to the engine if possible in the Drascombe - especially in and out of small inlets when the rattle of the iron tops'l would tend to spoil it). It seems like it may come in a useful back-up if nothing else.
In the meantime I'll check Falcon's rudder very carefully.

Steve

[Chris Wicks]

Update on rudder repairs from 2013..

The only consistent problems I experienced with Kaliope (CC 67) was to the rudder, water ingress and the top of the rudder cracking where the tiller is fitted. I learned one or two other boats had experienced similar problems and in 2013 Ian Barnes (the then owner of Ladybird) sent me details of his stainless steel repair, reinforcing plates. I had them made up locally and then fitted to Kaliope. At the same time the top section of rudder was reinforced in GRP and the rudder has performed very well ever since...

I think some water remained trapped in the rudder however as during winter layup, (undercover) the foot of the rudder is damp. So I have taken the bold step of drilling a drain hole in the base of the rudder allowing it to dry out fully. In the spring I will screw and seal a bung in place and so will be able to drain /dry out the rudder in future if need be. The attached photos on a Facebook album show the rudder modification ( as well as a simple furler mod)

Hope it is of interest

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 51bbf3d5ef

Cheers

Chris

[Malcolm Sadler]

There has been much discussion on the Forum about the poor design of the rudder construction and the stress placed on the very top - the smallest cross section yet taking all the load of the tiller via just one bolt.

I have not kept that bolt and it’s nut sufficiently tight and I have a lot of play between the tiller and rudder. Some work to remake the hole and fit a new bush (is there a bush?) seems necessary. Has anyone done this and can offer any tips please?

Many thanks in advance

Malcolm
Rondo SN 123

[Justin Greig]

After I got back from the Rally this year I managed to get a replacement rudder from Tim Altham. The English rudder turned out to be 5mm thinner than my original SA rudder. At the moment I have 3 washers between the cheeks of the rudder stock and the the rudder. But the gap gives me the opportunity to have two plates á la Ladybird to extend below the top bolt.

I had to drill the hole in the replacement rudder, so at the moment there is no bush, but I did soak the head of the rudder in Cuprinol wood hardener before putting it all back together

[Chris Wicks]

I have posted somewhere details of the use of two s/s reinforcing plates that make the HM rudder strong and functional. I copied the idea from someone. Sorry I can't remember right now.
Each subsequent CC 19 that has arrived in our area built by HM had the same problem. We had plates made up and fitted with a minimal cost. Both rudders also needed some fibreglass strengthening along the seams.

Chris

[Malcolm Sadler]

Thanks for this Chris, and Justin,

I was fishing around in the gallery last night and found some pictures of Kaliope’s stainless steel pieces. Do you (Chris) have the drawings please? I would love to piggyback on all your hard work and take the drawings to a stainless steel fabricator – rather more, cutting and polishing than fabrication, in fact, but by the sound of it, some bending the plates to the profile of the rudder.

If you do have them, there is a further question. How would you feel about sharing them with Tim Altham to be incorporated it into future new Cape Cutters. I’ve been working with Tim on passing on ideas for improvements from Association Members, and ‘improved tiller/rudder connection’ was named, but I have not been able to give him specific drawings. Hence my question about drawings.

In any event, I would love to copy your solution, and I’ve now got a few months before I get back in the water.

All the best

Malcolm

[NickC]

Hi Folks
I made the same modification to Grilla, however I think you will find rudder head profiles will be different on different boats depending on manufacturer or repairer. I templated mine then a friend made a replica CAD drawing for the fabricators plasma cutter. My biggest challenge was that they arrived unpolished and I had to find a metal polisher locally! I guess you could forward your template to the fabricator but need to check he can polish them too.

I'll try and dig out some photos.

BR
Nick

[Justin Greig]

Malcolm, I think the photographs showing Ladybirds rudder reinforcement here
https://www.capecutter19association.org/gallery/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pid=377#top_display_media
should enable Tim to design the improvement into the production process. As Nick says, there is some variation in the profile of the rudder - certainly as between my original SA rudder and the replacement supplied by Tim. If you have the name of a fabricator willing to undertake a small job like this I'd be grateful for the details - my online searches have only found people offering to do large scale projects ...

[Dennis]

Malcolm, I think the photographs showing Ladybirds rudder reinforcement here
https://www.capecutter19association.org/gallery/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pid=377#top_display_media
should enable Tim to design the improvement into the production process. As Nick says, there is some variation in the profile of the rudder - certainly as between my original SA rudder and the replacement supplied by Tim. If you have the name of a fabricator willing to undertake a small job like this I'd be grateful for the details - my online searches have only found people offering to do large scale projects ...

Hi all
I could not get Justin's link to work.
Is this the one you were referring to?

https://www.capecutter19association.org ... play_media

Or this one:

https://www.capecutter19association.org ... play_media