Pre 70s Rudder Question

[JMertz]

Well I decided to piece the boat together and just sail her for the summer. I'll tackle hull repair next fall or winter. The wood in the aft hull seems good enough to hold tiller parts so off we went. However we are having trouble keeping the rudder down in the water. It wants to come out of the lower bracket and come up out of the water. We have the thumb screw tightened pretty tight on the top plate so I'm wondering if there is some thing else going on. Is this space supposed to be there? The rudder moves a good half inch up and down in this space and I thought maybe that might be contributing to it coming out of the lower bracket.

 

[beldar boathead]

Do you have the plastic tube in place that covers the carriage bolt on the stern of the boat? That is important. If you don’t have it use the search Function to find out how to replace it.

 

[JMertz]

Yes I have that plastic tube in place. I thought maybe there should be a short piece here too to keep the rudder either all the way up or all the way down. As it is now, it seems sloppy.

 

[Charles Howard]

That looks like a homemade rudder and the brass attached to the wood looks like they are in the wrong location. The bottom bracket should be down at the bottom of that shaft not part way up. Signal Charlie will know more.

 

[JMertz]

So the brackets are too close together. Rather they should be spaced just so the long pin fits without much play. Correct?

And it does not surprise me that the rudder might be homemade. My dad probably picked this boat up at a yard sale or something!

 

[JMertz]

If I were to reposition the brackets, do you think that will solve my problem?

 

[signal charlie]

That part has been fiddled with and is not put together right. You could take the upper U strap bolts and screws out and move the rudder blade down then drill new holes.

You may have a worn tip on the vertical hinge plate or the cup on the latch plate may be worn, that allow the rudder to pop loose. Sometimes the latch plate on the keel or the spring plate on the deck get bent, you need to look at all those parts. And if the screws that hold them in are not tight, everything will be loose. Take a few more pictures when you can of the rudder assembly.

 

[JMertz]

Ok I’ll look at all this more closely tomorrow and will post a few pics.

 

[Breeze Bender]

Definitely looks like there’s too much play in there. I just took these pics today for my (soon to be listed for sale) old-style Sunfish. As SC says, there are several variables that could be the problem. Is the screw in the bottom of the hull snug? Is the vertical hinge pin bent? Looking forward to seeing more pics to help solve your problem.

 

[signal charlie]

Horizontal hinge plate, spring plate, carriage bolt, wing nut, vertical hinge plate, straps, latch plate and hinge pin. If anything is bent or worn or adjusted incorrectly there will be rudder releasing mechanism issues. Or if the attaching screws are loose.

 

[signal charlie]