Another Rudder Thread

[Cpy23ecl]

My experience with the ruddercraft rudder was on my CP23 and I loved the thing so much I had intended to order my new eclipse without a rudder and get another ruddercraft rudder until com-pac talked me out of it.

The RC rudder was a vast improvement on the 23 stock rudder and the mechanism to raise and drop the rudder was flawless and I never once had the rudder raise up any amount unexpectedly.  I loved the fact that I no longer had to remove the rudder when trailering the boat and it was so much easier to raise and lower the rudder.  The boat also steered better with less pressure on the tiller and no longer stalled out when tacking in very light winds.  That said, that was on a 23 and I have no experience with the RC rudder on any other boat.

Fred

[Renae]

I'm sorry to hear that the RC complete assembly does not necessarily function as advertised.  I'm sure it's a big improvement in the water, but it would be easier to lay down 6 bills if it snapped up smartly out of the water.  Maybe that's a big ask. 

One way or another, my rudder is on the to-do list for 2021.  Bruce's mod in the reefing thread looks like potentially the best option, particularly if done with the RC foil.  At least it's going to stay put.

[bruce]

Fred,

Congratulations on your new boat! That's a nice looking rudder that Com-Pac installs. Could potentially be used on a SC, but they get $486.20 for it, so no savings over other options.

Do you have the rudder blade control arm? If I've recall your recent posts correctly, you haven't had a chance to sail her yet. Any initial impressions about the rudder set up on the Eclipse? Not trying to put you on the spot, just curious.

The Eclipse transom may not be the easiest to fit a RC system to.

[Eddie C]

I owned a 2009 Eclipse from 2014 - 2017. Overall, it was a great boat but I downsized to the more ?geriatric friendly ? Sundaycat. I was very happy with the rudder on the Eclipse. It had a foiled shape and seemed to perform well. The bar used to raise and lower the rudder worked great and was easy to use. No hanging upside down to insert the pin. Would be nice if the Sundaycat had the same system. Has anyone added the bar system to other Compacs?
Eddie C.

[Cpy23ecl]

Fred,

Congratulations on your new boat! That's a nice looking rudder that Com-Pac installs. Could potentially be used on a SC, but they get $486.20 for it, so no savings over other options.

Do you have the rudder blade control arm? If I've recall your recent posts correctly, you haven't had a chance to sail her yet. Any initial impressions about the rudder set up on the Eclipse? Not trying to put you on the spot, just curious.

The Eclipse transom may not be the easiest to fit a RC system to.

Thanks Bruce.  To tell the truth I haven't even unpacked the rudder yet (or anything else).  Got the boat from the dealer a few days before Thanksgiving and took it straight home and put it in the pole barn for the winter.  It does have the control arm made out of stainless rod but haven't put it on the boat yet so I don't have any input as to how well/easy it works and won't until spring as I don't have enough room in the barn to raise the rudder before it hits a wall.

When I contacted Ruddercraft before I ordered the eclipse they recommended the same rudder as they use for the 23 but as I said Com-pac talked me out of it.  Decided to go with the factory rudder for a while before deciding if I want to replace it with a Ruddercraft rudder.  Since the eclipse factory rudder is foiled it should solve the biggest issues I had with the flat blade rudder on my 23.  We'll see what happens in the spring.

Fred

[bruce]

Thanks Fred, I'm sure you're even more anxious for spring this year!

The control arm is listed as a part for the 23, 23P, ECL, and HC. #RA00R0141, $150.00, although on the HC parts list it says $172.00. I know Capt. Nemo had one on his SC, and others expressed interest. There must be some out there on SCs.
https://cpyoa.com/forum/index.php?topic=8217.msg60790#msg60790

Here's another thread about the control arm, and some better photos from Keith (scroll down to 2Jan2020). A video would be nice.
https://cpyoa.com/forum/index.php?topic=9734.msg73414#msg73414
http://www.sailboatrichlands.com/events.shtml

The foiled rudder is listed for the same models, #RA00R0076, $486.20.

[Jim in TC]

It's unfortunate that you can't get one more sail in to do some more diagnosis, and have the winter to work on any changes that looked promising.

That is of course the perennial commentary on sailing in the north, yes? As it happened, we pulled the boat on quite literally the last decent day before a couple weeks of cold rain and some snow. Followed of course by a few warmish sunny days on which we would have gone one more time...

I am reminded of an old group of photos labelled "Nov 1978."  Pictured is a venture in my brother's larger boat (35 or 36' Pearson) during which, in our more reckless younger days, we headed out through waves washing over the channel wall as we sailed into Lake Michigan, dressed essentially for ice fishing. One more sail indeed! 

[Cpy23ecl]

Bruce, yes, spring seems like its a long time away.  I know it won't be since time flies by faster every year the older I get.

Jim,  that reminded me of the time I sold my O'Day 28 and was delivering it up to traverse bay from southern lk mich in the middle of October.  Spent several days sailing straight down wind in 8' waves, wind instrument running around 40 kt apparent and hitting speeds over 10kts while surfing down the 8 footers.

Got near frankfurt and the sky turned black.  Decided to exercise a bit of caution and turned back about 15 min past the pier heads.  Took 45 min motor sailing into the wind and waves to get back to the pier heads.  Fun times.  Wouldn't do it these days though but it was fun averaging around 8 kts in a boat with a 6 kt hull speed.

Fred

[bruce]

Yeah, we had a nice stretch in late November, today the high was in the mid 30s. We've had two storms in the past week with winds 50 kts and above, and lost power once. Any fantasy about sailing again this season has faded.

In Nov. '78 I was in the Navy. Winter storms carried the additional risk of ice build up on the superstructure. Never a real threat, in my experience, although we did chip away ice in a few cases, but it was just another example of how any boat or ship could be overwhelmed by the conditions.

[Bub]

I just posted an update on the original thread where I had described the extra field modifications that were necessary to make the Ruddercraft foil rudder operate correctly.