I'm going to make a vertically oriented rudder for my Sunfish.
- Andy
Yup, that's exactly why I'm doing it. I did the same thing 30 years ago to an old, beat up Sunfish I had back east. Made a huge difference.Many liked the more vertical blade because it made the boat easier to handle in heavy breeze.
Anything from ghosting along in mirrored water to 25+.Andyatos - how strong are the winds you are sailing in?
Being that were are dealing with a lack of surface area in contact with the water,
angling the rudder may help but be short of optimum.
Sorry, sudden is in there by accident!The rudder certainly doesn't need any more sudden surface area.
No, but I plan to add the cunningham and adjustable outhaul when I get a new sail. Can't stand looking at a dirty, abused sail any more.Do you have a Cunningham, adjustable outhaul and hiking strap?
Which is why, as I said in my previous post, I set the sail up in a static setting at "medium/tight". To already have tension along the luff and along the foot.The racing sails have a lot of draft so sail controls are important. The cunningham would allow you to move the center of effort. The top of the sail is very tight to the end of the boom. You want scallops down the front of the sail for power.
My brother and my hang gliding buddy don't want to have to hike way out to the degree that a hiking strap allows you to. Nor do they have the physical capability to do so for an extended period of time if the wind really comes up. A vertical rudder allows for a much more neutral helm in stronger winds even when the boat is not sailed flat.Hiking strap allows you to get more weight out in heavy air which eliminates weather helm.