For you DIY foil rudder guys

[Bob23]

Check this out: Just found in on the Duckworks site:
http://www.duckworksbbs.com/hardware/misc/windknife/index.htm

Bob23

[crazycarl]

Interesting, but they appear too small for our boats.

I brought her home today.

Indoor storage was definetly worth the $.
 
She's as clean as the day i put her away.

So now, between fixing the centerboard leak on my 15' daysailer,  spring landscaping, and the honey do list i believe is somewhere on the garage workbench, i'm finally going to start the foiled rudder project.

CC

[Bob23]

I didn't check the sizes out...maybe they are too small. I never did find those NACA foil templates! Tore this dang office apart but to no avail. If I can help you in any way, don't hesitate to call or PM. I have lots of photos of my wood blade but I think a foam blade with wood leading edge would be way easier.
Bob23

[crazycarl]

bob,

i have several websites bookmarked about foiled rudders, one of them is duckworks.

After 20 years of using trig every day at work, it's been 16 years since i've had to use my brain for anything besides tasks retarded monkeys do without a second thought.

I keep looking at the foiled fudder from my starwind and thinking (ouch) i could move the gudgeons on that rudder housing and weld them for use on the compac.

CC

[skip1930]

Well when building your own rudder build a portion of the rudder under the transom for that 'power-steering' feeling on the tiller.
A balanced rudder is a happy rudder ... a little something forward of the hinge.

skip.

[crazycarl]

Skip,

I agree.

The starwinds rudder extended under the transom and that boat was very easy to command.

CC

[Bob23]

  I did exactly that when I built the wood foiled blade. A recent modification, meaning the last 3 weeks, was the addition of the Compac stainless steel hold down bracket. When I built the wood blade, which is foam lined, I added a downhaul but it never held the rudder completely down. Along with the bracket, which I will name shortly, I cut the top of the blade to allow it to pivot forward a few more inches. While I was at it, I bought 4 bronze sleeves at Lowe's and drilled out the gudgeon and rudder head to accept these and of course added new 3/8" stainless bolts. Because I sail in real water (read: salt) there are 4 zincs in different locations. I just hates corrosion and I really detest with a passion galvanic corrosion hence the zincs. It's a corrosion heaven back there with aluminum, bronze and stainless! 
  I'm also an anti- friction and anti needless wear lunatic so wherever a bolt passes through whatever it has to pass through, there are nylon spacers. These don't interfere with the zincs job because, well just because they don't. I've planned this out pretty well so the zincs are not isolated by any nylon.
  The one short coming of the bracket is there is nothing holding it in place while it's doing it's thing so I had a local shop make a hoop out of stainless which bolts to the tiller plate bolt. It works well and only cost 25 clams.
   I also had to do some precision machining (read: cutting with Makita jigsaw) of the rudder head to allow the rudder to be pulled all the way up while the boats on her mooring.
   I realize that non of this makes hardly any sense without photos so I'll modify this message tomorrow with pictures.
Bob23