Hello again;
Finally hit the water in my "new" X, but with nasty chop and steady 20+ winds, I decided to stick to motor cruising. All went well except that the trailer's down wind goal post was listing a bit on recovery . I was going to repair it with a piece of water pipe, but a trip to the local pipe and cable yard yielded the perfect hunka chunka solid rod. Half an hour with the air grinder and welder and she's as good as new (my welds are guaranteed PERFECT up until the moment that they fail).
The X owners manual says to cleat the rudder down, but I anticipate hitting stuff and would appreciate advise on rigging a kick up rudder. I searched the forums and found what looked like a "kick up cleat" but I'm a bit confused.
thanks,
Chris
Several members who frequent shallow waters have replaced a section of the tie down line with a bungee cord. I have done the same over the winter but have yet to try it out. This method allows you to tie it down but upon hitting resistance the bungee cord allows the ruddre to move up.
Ahother solution was simply tying the rudder down with a slip knot around the cleat. Enough pressure pulls out the loop in the slip knot and the rudder is saved.
I can attest to it being a good idea to tie them down. One popped up on me as i was maneuvering into a berth and the prop left a dozen crescent moon shaped gouges in the rudder gelcoat because it floated up to the horizontal position. First, last and only time I"ve ever damaged a boat in 60 years on the water!
I tightened the rudder bolts on our 2000 X just enough so they stay down on thier own until about 6 knots.That's as fast as we have ever sailed.
When under power over 6 knots we pull them up anyway. I think the manual says to pull the up at 8 knots. We do not find that this extra turn on the bolts makes it any harder to lift them and they still swing down on thier own.
I've used bungee for two seasons, but never really liked the feel, and I've a few times noted that one or the other rudder was sometimes not 100% forward, probably due to the bungee relaxing a bit over a day of sailing in the sun.
So I am planning to replace the bungee setup with an alternative solution using zip ties.
Namely, I am going to put two eye splices, with nylon inserts, in each rudder line just below the cleat when the rudders are down, and connect the ends of the line with a zip tie. That should provide enough strength and persistent tension to hold the rudders firmly down while under way, as if there was a solid line, but will provide a sacrificial breaking point (weaker than the fairleads attached to the hull) and easily replaced/fixed on the water should one ever need to.
I'll post a photo or two next week sometime when I get the boat out of the barn and into the water (seemed like it took *forever* for the ice to melt here!)
Thanks Guys;
I like the nylon tie strap idea, but the kick up cleat seems even slicker. Does the cleat seem like it will be trouble-free over the long run?
csm wrote:Thanks Guys;
I like the nylon tie strap idea, but the kick up cleat seems even slicker. Does the cleat seem like it will be trouble-free over the long run?
The owner I copied this mod from has used them for years without an issue. very well made product. Being adjustable is nice. If it is too fast to release, turn the screw a bit .
Do my mod, you have a quick/easy rudder system the mac should have had from the factory
A few years ago, I installed the CL257 Auto Release Mini Cleats.
I had to use a slightly smaller diameter rope (down to 1/4") but it's plenty strong enough, just a little less comfortable to pull on. Use non-stretch rope.
You can adjust how much pressure it takes to pop the cleats, but the adjustment is not very precise. These cleats do work well. They release and let the rudder come back when they need to and keep the rudder tightly down when sailing.
You can see them here: http://www.clamcleat.com/cleats/cleat_d ... ?theid2=78
They have certainly lasted and paid for themselves the first time they popped loose!
Ned
I installed the cleats today, but I'm wondering how they work??? The tensioning screw doesn't appear to do anything??? I was expecting some sort of stepped cam to adjust breakaway tension, but I'm not seeing it. When I backed the tension down to a reasonalbe level, the screw pulls out of the backing plate when the cleat breaks over, but then the screw and backing plate fly away........surely that isn't how they're designed?
csm wrote:I installed the cleats today, but I'm wondering how they work??? The tensioning screw doesn't appear to do anything??? I was expecting some sort of stepped cam to adjust breakaway tension, but I'm not seeing it. When I backed the tension down to a reasonalbe level, the screw pulls out of the backing plate when the cleat breaks over, but then the screw and backing plate fly away........surely that isn't how they're designed?
Poor man's cleats: pinch the rope and insert it UNDER the cleat rather than wrap it around them. Leave a little loop on the other side. I have used this system for years, with a 100% rate of success.
(Of course, I have never hit anything that would require the rudders to kick up, either....)
csm wrote:I installed the cleats today, but I'm wondering how they work??? The tensioning screw doesn't appear to do anything??? I was expecting some sort of stepped cam to adjust breakaway tension, but I'm not seeing it. When I backed the tension down to a reasonalbe level, the screw pulls out of the backing plate when the cleat breaks over, but then the screw and backing plate fly away........surely that isn't how they're designed?
. I was going to repair it with a piece of water pipe, but a trip to the local pipe and cable yard yielded the perfect hunka chunka solid rod. Half an hour with the air grinder and welder and she's as good as new 
(my welds are guaranteed PERFECT up until the moment that they fail). 
