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I have put this comment in another area with no response so thought I would post it here. Thanks.

I have seen a few rudders damaged by hitting the bottom. Does anyone use bungee cords or some type of system so if the rudders bottom out they can flick upwards rather than break?

Ray.

Ray, I've removed your other post. We don't allow duplicate posting here on the forum and I think you're more likely to receive an answer in this thread than the other. Also, since this is your first post, it needed to be approved by an admin before it became visible to everyone. This approval process prevents spammers from dumping adverts and nasty stuff into the forum. Welcome to the forum!

ausvoy wrote:I have seen a few rudders damaged by hitting the bottom. Does anyone use bungee cords or some type of system so if the rudders bottom out they can flick upwards rather than break?

Many folks are using the small load-limiting rope clutches for the rudder hold-down line, but I can't seem to find them online anywhere. Maybe someone else can post a link. I don't use anything, but I let the centerboard tell me when I'm scraping, or if in doubt (like when docking with only a little CB down) I just leave the hold-down lines uncleated. At idle speed they don't need any help staying down.

Oh, and welcome. Make it pepperoni. Thin crust.

there is this one

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/clamclea ... t--1158443

and this is the one Tom was probably thinking about

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/product-p/s ... parent.htm

I even bought a set a few years ago. I haven't installed them. There doesn't seem to be a lot of real estate on the for the install.

If anyone has installed them and can verify they work as intended, id love to hear about it.

I sail in an estuary most of the time, often in less than 3 feet of water. So I never cleat them. Instead, I had a couple of custom rudder protectors welded. Now the rudders can scrape any way they want without me bothering.

I tighten my rudder pivot bolts (and loop their lines loosely around their cleats) so the rudders stay down under sail but will kick up if they hit something.

Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL wrote:I tighten my rudder pivot bolts (and loop their lines loosely around their cleats) so the rudders stay down under sail but will kick up if they hit something.

That’s the simplist solution I’ve read yet. Have you ever been in a situation where it was needed? Did it work?

Ray

Yes, several times. Sometimes just one rudder.
It took a little bit of adjustment to get it right so that they didn't kick up too easily.
Also, I have a big plastic washer on each side of the rudder blade between the blade and the bracket. I'll try to find a better name for these and post it here.

Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL wrote: I have a big plastic washer on each side of the rudder blade between the blade and the bracket. I'll try to find a better name for these and post it here.

The technical name yer looking for is AOL CD, or CCCL...cottage cheese container lid.

K9Kampers wrote:

Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL wrote: I have a big plastic washer on each side of the rudder blade between the blade and the bracket. I'll try to find a better name for these and post it here.

The technical name yer looking for is AOL CD, or CCCL...cottage cheese container lid.

Instead of wrapping the rudder lines around the cleat, I have been making a small loop which I thread through the cleat itself and let it dangle on the other side. Granted, the size of the loop is dependent on the size of the rope... but in my case. the rope can be easily threaded through and still provides enough friction to keep the rudders in the 'down' position. In theory, a strong hit below would pull the loop through. Since I am always careful about the depth where I sail (the depthfinder starts beeping way before we reach a critical depth) I never tested it in shallow waters--but it works if I try to lift the rudders manually.

To keep the rudders well aligned, I use old CD's around their pivots. They last for a couple of seasons, but can be changed very easily. And I have a lot of older CD's that are no longer needed, included some that never were

I think that what I use are called polyethylene fender washers.
I also think that CD's could be used, depending upon the type of music.

Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL wrote:I think that what I use are called polyethylene fender washers.
I also think that CD's could be used, depending upon the type of music.

Yeah, you wouldn't want to use any hip-hop or rap, or even disco CDs... too much moving around.

There seems to be alot of Abba cd's cheap or free out there.

Whenever I see anything that is free, I ask "Is that your best price?".