Steering a Sunfish

[tom whitehurst]

Most of us have power steering in cars today. Sailing a sunfish in heavier winds is like driving a car WITHOUT power steering. It is very difficult to steer! This proposed change will correct this problem. It is not to make the boat faster but easier for everyone to sail. For those of us that race, we see how the younger and women sailors struggle and have also seen the positive results from those that have tried the new rudder. Allowing for an angle change to the existing rudder will also fix this problem.

 

[winever]

Tom, I think it's a great idea as an add-on for recreational sailors. For racing sailors I think it will decrease participation and divide the class. Let the recreational owners that want easier steering make the additional purchase. I don't think it's good for the Class, although I'm sure the builder would love it. Just one opinion, our mileage may vary, Winever.

 

[wlmlaw]

Tom, I do not understand your point at all. The lateen rig with the adjustable
gooseneck solves the weather helm issue up to force 5 winds, which is about the
maximum we ever race in. If you have weather helm it means that your rig is
not adjusted properly. It does not matter what the design of the rudder is, if the
boat is turning up because the center of effort of the sail is too far in back of the
center of effort of the hull and blade (board and rudder) configuration, you will
have to drag the rudder in order to keep the boat from rounding up. The more
vertical blade may make it seem like the helm is "lighter" but this is the result of the
center of effort on the rudder being closer to the transom. Yes, we have created
"power stearing", but at what price. It will desensitize the less sophisticated sailers
into carrying a wheather helm instead of moving the gooseneck, flatening the sail using more sheet tension or the jens and vanging down to keep the spar bent when the
sheet must be eased. (Hiking technique to keep the boat at the proper heal is also important to reduce helm) The current rudder lets you know when you are yanking on the
tiller and moving it up over the 4 degree of angle that is normal when the boat is in
"balance". When one learns how to adjust the rig, the weather helm goes away
quite nicely. In any case, weather helm is bad, but rudders won't fix it. Balance will.
Bill McLaughlin 77721

 

[mike4947]

I'm not sure where to stick this post, but since it did improve steering I'll post it here.

My old boat 30360 had the old paddle style rudder and old gear. Back in the early 80's I broke the paddle rudder clean in two and lost the broken off part. SO a trip to the local sunfish dealer and a substantial exchange of cash I got a new style blade. As any one whose bought one can verify they come with just a hole for the tiller. Not being into racing yet except our club racing I didn't have the "offical" postition and I mounted it almost vertical. Not only did it help the "popout" the old style rudders have, but it also made tacking and mark rounding faster. THis I proved several times with other skippers and with my new 80340 boat.
Yes weather helm felt ligher and I agree you need to set the rig up for the correct center of effort, but just moving it from the "offical" position made it a much easier handling boat in all amounts of wind. And the rudder on the old boat didn't start popping untill well into the 20 knot range compared to 15 knots for the old angle. So the rudder assembly had less force on it.

 

[rmwmmw]

Tom,

Just wanted to throw out an interesting story. I was out on a Hobie 16 this Labor Day weekend. About 20 knots wind and no traps, so we reefed the main and had a blast. On one of my trips off the beach, we broke a rudder at the the tiller bolt connection. I had Sunfish rudder on the brain while swapping out the broken one. I sized up the busted rudder and thought I'd give it a try on the Sunfish. That evening I went at it with a table saw, grinder, sander and drill. I came up with an awesome looking Sunfish rudder. It's based on the same angle as the proposed rudder. The lateral center looks to be in the same location and overall area is also about the same.

Yesterday, Labor Day, conditions were the same. David Loring and I went out in our fish for some practice. We both very much liked this rudder. I was not suprised to find the same performance characteristics as the proposed new rudder. David took my boat out for a good while and came ashore impressed. He has not tried your design yet, but I can tell you there is little difference.

Off the wind, particularly on reaches, the thing was a blast to sail. Very responsive and light on the helm. I had some fantistic beam reach runs without fighting the tiller. Attached is a picture, with my copy of the proposed rudder, my 'sawed off' Hobie Cat rudder, and an original Hobie rudder for comparison. I looked up the cost of a standard new glass reinforced nylon Hobie 14/16 rudder - $132.

The rudder collected more that a few remarks. One of the windsurfer guys at the club, who also sails Sunfish, looked at it on the beach in the raised position, pointing straight aft. He called it a Sunfish rudder 'with attitude'. This is going to be my rudder for fun sailing.

Update: I shaved off a couple inches off the bottom (see second photo). I can now lower the rudder while on the dolly.