idasailor rudder

[capnjorge]

i recently replaced my stock rudder w/a foiled one from the guys in idaho and i am definately seeing an improvement on weather helm pressure i.e. the tillerpilot loves it. however i do not have a fuzzy feeling about the fact that the aluminum spine in the center of the rudder only goes down about 12 inches or so into the plastic. this in my opinion offers a serious snapping point when the blade is subjected to side loads i.e. sailing downwind w/ large quartering seas trying to broach or round her up. this would be a bad time to lose the rudder and have to try and reinstall the stock blade, which may be slightly less efficient but you aint gonna break it!! bottom line,  they should extend the aluminum the full length . i am in manufacturing(machine shop) and that extra bit of alum. would only increase the cost $20 or so and would be well worth the added security.please let me know your thoughts on this if you have one of these rudders thank, jorge

[CaptK]

Hi Jorge -

You should talk to Joel about it - he is a very nice and approachable person, and I'm sure would be interested in your input. That said, here are some thoughts, which are by no means intended to be the definitive answer on the subject...

I worked with Joel to develop the foiled rudder, and Epiphany has had the IdaSailor rudder for Com-Pac's on her stern longer than any other CP out there. The rudder has held up fine through a variety of conditions, though none approaching a full gale and large breaking seas where the forces on the rudder *might* be strong enough to snap it as you suggest. I've never seen any sideways deflection of the blade, and I've looked , because I wondered the same as you.

However, Joel has been manufacturing boat parts for quite a while, so I defer to his expertise in the area. I'm sure he would be able to put a longer spine into the rudder for anyone who was going to venture on a journey where conditions existed that might be strong enough to break the blade. I wonder, though, if instead of breaking, the blade would first bend, or delaminate along it's seam, giving one a warning of sorts that stresses were building to a dangerous point back there on the stern. At any rate, in such weather, I'd be hove to and battened down waiting for conditions to abate long before I snapped the rudder. The CP23 rides very nicely when hove to, with much less strain on rudder, rigging, hull, and Captain. :mrgreen:

Good topic, Jorge, thanks.

[capnjorge]

well it did finally happen, sort of. while entering the pass the other day, in 20kts w/ 4-5 fters, i got rolled over about 45 deg. and surfed sideways quite a ways. all was fine but when i got back to the dock as i was about to pull up the rudder, she was bent considerably. i pulled it off and using a sewer grate as a bending jig i bent it back as close to straight as poss. it bent way too easily. i then went to fetch the stock blade i keep aboard (just in case!)and torqued on it for grins and whadda ya know? couldnt budge it. i think the combo of narrower section where it exits the rudder head plus the matl. is a softer alum (5052 vs. 6061) results in a noodly situation. i emailed joel @ idasailor and they are willing to replace the alum core w/6061. i should mention that i have beefed up my rudder head, gudgeons, and pintles quite extensively by machining custom oversize parts. possibly the reason joel chose 5052 was to insure the blade bent before the original casting broke? or before the plastic broke where the alum core ends? not sure. 5052 is slightly more marine friendly but it is really soft. the orig blade, while crude, is 6061 and wider where it exits the head plates, and therefore more resistant to bend and stay bent. i cant say enough about joel and idasailor. he is very commited to making the customer happy and of course to the product. i definitely dont want to go back to the stock rudder blade if i dont have to, as the idasailor blade is far superior performancewise, i just think it could be a little stiffer. anyways, just thought i would update on this as a rudder is a pretty important item on a sailboat, eh? oh yeah, forgot to mention this was strictly due to water pressure as the boat moved sideways, not grounding. the blade has a slight coat of algae and there wasnt even a scratch on it.  also should mention ive had this blade for almost a year and 1500nm!.anyways cheers, jorge

[CaptK]

Thanks for the update, Jorge!

I figured if there was a problem that Joel would do right by his product - he really is a good guy.

Wow - 1500+ nm under your keel this year? That's great!

Write up some of your experiences sometime, if you feel like it, and post them here. I'msure people would love to read about them.

Thanks again!