Old style rudder pop

Blackwater

New Member
I have old style rudder that kicks up nomatter how tight I tighten down the adjustments .I have thought of having a little brazing added to the tip . any other ideas that would work . Im not ready to convert to new style . thanks
 
There are several causes of this problem. The most common cause is malalignment of the bronze vertical plate (the plate that attaches to the deck fitting with the 1/4" pin or bolt.. Sometime the bronze deck plate gets twisted or the "ears" that the pin goes through get bent and then the bottom of the vertical plate does not fit properly in the indentation in the keel plate. If the vertical plate is even a little out of alignment, the rudder will pop up seemingly regardless of tension with the brass carriage bolt and wing nut tensioner. Check the alignment by simply looking at it before you lock the rudder in the full down position. Sometimes you can remove the deck plate and hammer it back to true - sometimes not.

Second, the keel plate may be bent or too loose. It should fit flush to the botton of the keel and the brass flat head screw that attaches it to keel shouild be snug. If it is bent, remove it and gently hammer it back to proper shape.

Third, the keel plate indentation may be so worn that no amount of carriage bolt tension will hold the rudder in the down position when sailing. To fix this problem, you need to install a new keel plate.

I sell reconditioned fittings like these if you need them. Contact me at: [email protected] if you are interested for a quote on replacement parts. Good luck with the project.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
 
I agree with everything Alan said. In my case the boat was a '69 and the keel plate was well worn as was the vertical plate. It did not pop out too easily but in wave conditions it was impossible to sail. Go for the reconditioned parts that are worn, but you will still get pop outs in rough conditions.
I sold the old boat to buy one with the new rudder design so I could tackle the waters of Wellfleet harbor when the wind was up. Good investment.

Fred
 
I've had exactly this problem , verticle alignment of the rudder was slightly to port & would pop on that tack like clockwork. Finally found a fab shop willing to work on brass. Heating & pressing the the plate was not very successful, but brazing the pin holes for the rudder & redrilling a true horizontal set of holes seems to have worked wonders (Dynex in Fredeicton, thanks lads) set to go sailing this weekend :D
 
I am also having this problem, old boat, and just learning to sail. I have read the replies and think I was able to do a little straightening. However, I was successful with doing a major tightening of the wing nut with the aid of pliers. No problems on last sail. I'm OK with this fix except I am not able to 'pop' up the rudder manually now. I just remove it when trailering. Is this going to work for me or would you suggest, over the long run, that I find a replacement part?
 
The idea of a kick-up rudder is to allow it to kick up when you hit a submerged object (e.g. rock, submerged piling etc.) without breaking the wood rudder blade, so you have lost this function if you have to use pliers to tighten the wing nut. At some point you will need to get the system working properly or risk breaking the wood rudder blade.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
 

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