26S rudder problem

[Dream Weaver 26s]

Hi,
Last year I found that my rudder would often float up, rather than stay vertical.
Is there a good fix for this without having to replace my rudder?
Also when washing my hull at the end of the year with a pressure washer all the paint stripped off my rudder. (Nothing to do with the floating problem as this happened after I pulled the boat out for winter) what is the best product to re-paint my rudder with?
It is bare fibreglass now.

Thanks

Mark

[madguy]

Hi Mark.

There is a small hole on the leading edge of your rodder not far below the hinge, Its supposed to have a thin wire rope attached there then up inside the rudder bar and out of the top, then a peice or string attached to it with a small cleat on the tiller.

When the rudder is in the down position you pull on the string and tie it off on the cleat, this stops the rudder from floating up under sail.

On my 26s i used a snatch cleat on the tiller in case i hit an underwater obstruction, then the cleat will pop up and allow the rudder to lift of the obstruction, that way you wont damage the rudder or break the wire holding the rudder down.

Hope this helps?


Madguy

[Dream Weaver 26s]

Aaaa haaa...

Thank you very much, this makes perfect sense, I must not have seen it or it could be missing! I will check this out when Im at the boat next weekend.

Very helpful thanks again.

Mark

[Doug91mac26s]

Here's my 26S. I used low stretch 1/4" yacht braid, instead of wire. You can see the haul down hole madguy is referring to. It's very important to be sure the rudder stays down all the way while sailing, otherwise the rudder and rudder post will be under a lot of stress, which could result in a broken rudder or the stainless steel plates that hold the rudder can get damaged. A sheer pin as shown in one of the pics is a good idea too.
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/modt/in ... ?view=1298

[BillOcala]

Thanks for this information. My boat was missing this part too and I was sure there was something supposed to go there!

[Interim]

I have two wire ropes running from the rudder, through the tiller post, to the cleat. I tie one off with a weak line, and the other is back up in case #1 breaks for any reason.

--john

[Interim]

[quote="Doug91mac26s" A sheer pin as shown in one of the pics is a good idea too.
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/modt/in ... ?view=1298[/quote]
Is that the shear pin going through the lower, forward hole in the bracket attached to the post? I think that may help withy my "rudder wiggle" but I am wondering how you put it in when you launch. Do you climb in the water and wrench it on?

--john

[Sumner]

... Is that the shear pin going through the lower, forward hole in the bracket attached to the post? I think that may help withy my "rudder wiggle" but I am wondering how you put it in when you launch. Do you climb in the water and wrench it on?....

It doesn't cost much to get rid of the whole shear pin situation...



...get a quick release like the one above that is mounted on the cleat. You can set the tension where it releases and the rudder will release and you can quickly reset it after it does. I would of probably gone through a half dozen shear pins on the last trip and at times I needed to quickly get the rudder back down for steerage and it would of been a real pain to mess with putting in a shear pin at the time.

All the info you need is here...

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... ing-1.html

Sumner

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1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

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