Installing a RudderCraft rudder on a Legacy

[Neil D]

Installing a ruddercraft kick up rudder on a Compac Legacy.

Suggested tools and hardware:
Phillips head screwdriver
Good pair of pliers, or multitool with pliers (I used my Leatherman)
Electric drill and bits
Pack of SS Flat Machine screws, 8-32 x 1 ½"  (the head is shaped for countersink)
Hamner and small piece of 2x4 wood block.
Ice pick: Thank you to Keith at NC Sailboats for this great tip (no pun)
C-clamps or "alligator" spring clamps

Other:

A hot sunny day, lots of patience, another person to help if possible, and plenty of cool water (beer after the job is done).

First things first.  RudderCraft (hereafter referred to as "RC") does not have a kick up rudder or blade specific to the Legacy in their catalog. They recommend the version that has been available for the Compac 16.  The blade on this model is the same length as the OEM Compac aluminum blade, but of course is a foil shape and is 2" wider. At first I was concerned about the dimensions not being exact but I took the leap of faith.

Over the phone, prior to ordering I was advised by RC that the installation process would be relatively easy; simply remove the pintles on the OEM rudder and install the new mechanism with the pintles (SS bolts with washers and nuts) onto the existing transom gudgeon. Upon inspecting the existing rudder assembly I noticed that there might be difficulty removing the top pintle because the bolt head was so close to the rub rail. I was advised by RC that it would only take a little "wiggling", but alas this was not meant to be.  I found that I would have to remove the stern rub rail to gain access to remove the top pintle.

There are two SS Phillips head screws that hold the SS corner trim pieces in place. Underneath these trim pieces are two more screws that hold the rub rail in place. One of those screws tacks down the side rub rail; the other tacks down the stern rub rail. Needless to say, do not loosen the side-rail screw!  Once you loosen and remove the stern rail screw, and then pry away the rail from the hull-deck joint, you be amazed at how fast that piece of rubber (or vinyl--not sure which) contracts to a length maybe 4" shorter.

Here was my first mistake. I removed the entire stern rub rail, including the SS corner fittings at both port and starboard.  This, in retrospect, was not necessary and made the project more difficult. My advice is to remove one side or the other but not both. I'll come back to this in a moment.

With the rub rail pulled away, you can see where Hutchins had to grind away a small semi-circular arc in the hull-deck joint to make room for insertion / removal of that top pintle. Now you can go about the process of removing the old rudder assembly.

From this point, installing your new RC kick up should go quite smoothly according to the instructions they provide. Removing your old tiller and putting on the new tiller is also straightforward, except that the RC tiller provided was much too long for my liking. I choose the "C" shape tiller as recommended--and I think that was a good choice--but lengthwise, it extended about 5" longer into the cockpit than the Compac tiller did.  For me this was a problem since there would not be room for skipper and crew to sit side-by-side to windward in order to keep the boat on its lines in "sporting" conditions.  Too little space between end of tiller and cabin bulkhead. So I had to return the stock tiller, and RC made me a custom 39" tiller that matches the length of the original tiller. They were fair about it; I had to pay a small custom upcharge and shipping one way. But my advice to consider ordering the custom tiller length initially.

Rudder and Tiller good-to-go, now to reinstall the rub rail. You'll need to lay it out in the hot sun until it literally gets too hot to handle.  I also had my boat in the driveway in the sun. You are probably going to find that it will take much trial-and-error to get the holes in the rub rail to line up with the holes in the hull-deck joint. I had removed both corners (lesson learned) so had to get one side tacked down first.  This is where the ice pick came in handy, to line everything up. If you already had both corners removed, screw down one side first, then pull / stretch the rub rail to the other side and screw that side down. This is where it would be handy to have a 2nd set of hands; one person to do the stretching; the other to hold the screw and screwdriver.  Without another person to help, the spring clips placed along the rub rail helped reduce the amount of contraction making easier for me to get the screw started and turned down tight.

Things get even trickier when trying to replace the SS corner plates, because it is not a true C-channel--it is flared. So the hole in the bottom is not directly below the hole in the top.  It took quite a bit more trial and error, ice pick probing, and a little drilling to clear a path for the screws to go all the way through the SS corner plate, rub rail, hull-deck joint, rub rail, and SS corner plate. The original screws that held down this plate were crimped off just below the nut so they would not protrude.  You will likely not be able to get these same screws back in and all the way through--and even if you did, the nut would not thread on easily. So instead, use a new 8-32 x 1 ½" screw that will be long enough to go through with room to tighten down the nut.  Trust me when I tell you that it will still take some time and frustration to complete this part of the job.

Once the corner trim plate (hopefully you only removed one) is on, your work is done!

I have not been able to get the boat out on the water to test the new setup, but look for another report on sailing characteristics / improvements after I do.


I hope this write up is of some help to anyone else who undertakes this same project!

[Mike K]

Thanks for the great info and installation tips!

After some sailing with it, I'd be very interested to see how much of a performance improvement you may feel with the foiled rudder versus the old flat aluminum piece.