Rudder Craft (IDA Rudders)

[Miss_Dallie]

Ahoy!
I'd like to start by saying that the folks at Rudder Craft are super! I placed my order on Friday 6/29 and the rudders for my M were out of stock. I had on the water overnight plans for 7/4, 7/5, and 7/6 (the admiral's birthday). This was to be our first overnight outing on the water and I ended up with broken rudders on 6/26 (discovered on 6/28)! After reading posts here (you guys/gals are amazing) I learned of IDA Rudders. I knew I didn't have time to repair the rudders (a project for the future) so I went "Googling" for IDA Rudders and found Rudder Craft. Rudder Craft (Joel) understood my delima and time crunch. He had his team come in on Saturday (their day off) to manufacture the Rudders for me. The rudders were sent overnight on Monday (7/2), I received them on 7/3 and installed them after work (2200). Fortunately when I worked Avionics I work nights and am able to work with minimum light and by feel. Brought back some great "back in the day" memories of my tenure in the Marine Corps!

On 7/4 we put into the water at Davies (Long Beach) and sailed all day, the rudders were more responsive than I had ever imagined; no comparison to the original manufacure rudders! I had the best time to date on the boat. Waking up on the water and sitting back in the cockpit with a cup of coffee peering over glassy water as far as the eye can see feeling the slight chill in the air with the woman that warms my heart with just a glance...Ahhhh, does it get any better than this? And of course, the Sailing was great too. On the afternoon of 7/5 the wind picked up big time off Huntington Beach and I had a solid heel of 30 degrees (any more than this and I get nervious); boy were we moving, and how!

Anyway...

On a side note: The rudders are warranted for life but the warranty is not transferrable. These rudders will most likely not break if you hit something with them. Rudder Craft offers a shear bolt to use so the boat won't take the brunt of the damage if this were to occur, I opted not to purchase/use the shear bolt. If I ever take Miss Dallie out somewhere I am not familiar with I may consider getting the shear bolts.

The only negative issue I have with the rudders is the holes for the lock bolts don't line up with the boats hardware. I was panicked at first as I wasn't going to tow without the rudders being locked up by something. The holes lined up enough to get a 3/16 stainless bolt through, so I was to lock them up for towing. I have not contacted Rudder Craft about this yet and I may not contact Rudder Craft about this; by using a smaller bolt I am assured I won't make the same mistake I made that broke my original rudders. Yes I pulled the wrong bolts and then went sailing busting up the tops of the rudders. Cindy forgave me for my mistake and thinks the new rudders are far superior to the original rudders (I'm Sooo lucky to have her in my life). Of course I will contact Rudder Craft to let them know that something wasn't quite right in the manufacturing of these rudders so they are aware but I don't think I will ask for mine to be rebuilt.

Aloha,
Ron
Miss Dallie

[Ixneigh]

I'm very happy with mine. Note I never use the locking Pins only the lines to the cleat. There is enough give in the line if you hit something that's not a whale or a giant mutant zombie barnacle. For towing I just make sure the lines are very secure. In shallow water I just release the lines. The ruddes tend to stay down. I may at some point add a few pounds of lead to the ends.

Ixneigh

[jbousquin]

Has IDA Rudders ever made a daggerboard for the M?

With all the daggerboard mods out there, the "circuit breaker" characteristic of the OEM daggerbarod, and a desire from many for a heavier daggerboard to (maybe) help reduce heeling, it seems like they would have a market for it. I just checked out their site, and it seems like they make a lot of products for different boats. I wonder if we could convince Joel to at least prototype something for the M.

[DaveB]

Use the auto release cams for your rudders, last 3 years saved rudders .
http://www.duckworksbbs.com/hardware/cl ... /index.htm
Dave

[ROAD Soldier]

Cant go wrong with IDA Rudders or what ever they are called now. I did break one after years of hard sailing and abuse on the one I would always put down while motoring slow for steerage way. Needless to say that one hit bottom a lot. I got a fatigue crack about 1/4 way through and then after 4 years of abuse and then sailing hard one day this year in 28MPH winds it finally broke the rest of the way.

[mastreb]

I'm very happy with mine. Note I never use the locking Pins only the lines to the cleat. There is enough give in the line if you hit something that's not a whale or a giant mutant zombie barnacle. For towing I just make sure the lines are very secure. In shallow water I just release the lines. The ruddes tend to stay down. I may at some point add a few pounds of lead to the ends.

Ixneigh

I too just trailer with the cleated lines. If you're cleating with a correct double cleat knot it's not going to come loose.

[Ixneigh]

I think I will paint mine. Might keep the uv light off the plastic.

[Steve K]

Don't think any paint will stick to that stuff
SK

[mastreb]

Has IDA Rudders ever made a daggerboard for the M?

With all the daggerboard mods out there, the "circuit breaker" characteristic of the OEM daggerbarod, and a desire from many for a heavier daggerboard to (maybe) help reduce heeling, it seems like they would have a market for it. I just checked out their site, and it seems like they make a lot of products for different boats. I wonder if we could convince Joel to at least prototype something for the M.

I'd be very interested in a custom dagger with a 400 lb. lead fin at the bottom as an entire replacement, so I can keep the stock keel separately. I'd do it in three pieces--A wooden board, and then port and starboard fins made of lead angles that bolt through the board. This way, the dagger can be lowered to the ground while on the trailer, unbolted from the daggerboard creating two 200lb. pieces, and then the wood dagger can be taken out the top to remove it completely. You'd have a 12v winch mounted at the aft daggerboard slot to raise and lower the heavier keel.

[Hamin' X]

Might want to start here:

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... f=7&t=4502

and give Leon and Joel a call. After his expeience here, Joel may not want to participate.

~Rich

[Ixneigh]

Paint sticks to mine. I spattered blue paint on it and it's difficult to remove. Mine have been in the weather about a year.
In regards to daggerboard weights I don't think 400 pounds is a very good idea. That's a lot of leverage on the trunk, bouncing around in lumpy seas or something. I also don't see that big an increase in performance. The boats hull is designed to sail at such an angle that the planning aspects of the hull hinder sailing the least. You want the boat to heel to that point. Being able to load more sail in windy conditions won't enable you to exceed hull speed. And forget about planning the boat under sail in anything but down wind with a big chute. And you won't have the keel down plus the added weight will be a detriment.
One of the main reasons I bothered to add internal ballast was comfort under unballasted conditions and a bit of added safety in case I forget to fill the tanks. That's happened once already. It helps the boat stand up a bit but hasn't increased speed, and it's not hanging off a part of the boat not designed for it.

Ixneigh

[Miss_Dallie]

Use the auto release cams for your rudders, last 3 years saved rudders .

Great idea! Thanks Dave.

Might want to start here:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4502

and give Leon and Joel a call. After his expeience here, Joel may not want to participate.

I just read through all of this thread and the corresponding referrenced thread with in this thread to find 1) the pictures of the new dagger board no longer available and DELVEVI reports that he fianally received the new dagger board and was waiting to install it BUT NO FURTHER REPORT! It's been six years but I'd like to know if the new dagger board worked or not...How about it Leon, you still out there?

Ron

[Russ]

Leon sold his boat about a year or so ago.

I asked him about the modified dagger. He said it was a prototype and a nightmare to manufacture and they all agreed it was not practical to produce these things.

Here's the thread
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... =8&t=14705

As for anyone looking to add ballast via keel, I would say still plenty of effort and cost for a marginal return. For me, it was worth it, in hindsight, though when I was ironing out the problems, I would probably say differenlty. The performance gains are certainly there, but if you expect a huge difference, you'll be disappointed.

[Russ]

The auto release cam cleats are nice and professional. However, I'm cheap and sloppy, so I found a free way to accomplish the same thing. Pull the boards down and then wrap the slack end of the rudder line around the cleat a few times. This puts enough tension around the cleat so that the rudder line stays down, but if enough force pulls it, the line can pull through.
Wish I had a picture because it's hard to describe. Simple easy and free.

[Obelix]

Hi Dave,
How did you mount the cam-cleats, I don't see a way to put a backing plate or nut on the inside in my

Obelix

Use the auto release cams for your rudders, last 3 years saved rudders .
http://www.duckworksbbs.com/hardware/cl ... /index.htm
Dave