Rudder Lift Rod (short?)

[DanRiddell]

Hi Everyone, I just purchased a 2016 Horizon Day Cat. I'm going through the boat to learn about it and to make sure it's ready for the water. I did find an issue while installing the rudder lift handle. The handle seems to be a bit short. See attached picture. The main issue is that the rod seems short or maybe it is the wrong rod. I can drill a hold in the rudder to lift the rod height so that the tang on the rod inserts into the stop on the top of the rudder mount. However, it appears if I do adjust the hole on the rudder upward that the hinge at the bottom of the rudder rod will hit the rudder mount and I can't place the rudder up position block on top of the rudder mount to keep the rudder up. Any thoughts are appreciated on how to remedy this issue. If I were to try and sail as is, the rudder would lift a few degrees and not be in the proper position.

Her is a question, once I get the height straight, how much pressure if any should be on the tang to insert under the top of the rudder? Should this be a easy fit or should I have to give a little pressure to insert the tang under the rudder stop? I don't want the rudder to move up while sailing or have slop.

Also, does the bolt and nut on the rudder to mount to the rudder mount ever come loose (see picture)? I was thinking that I might drill a hole in the bolt and insert a safety so that the nut can not come off while sailing. Also, can you confirm the correct bolt size? Lastly, what is the best way to strap the rod to the tiller?

Thank you in advance for your time on this. I'm sure to have more questions since I'm new to sailing and the Com-Pac Sailing Community. Side note, the Horizon Day Cat is actually in incredible shape. I might be a bit overcautious about getting her ready for the water. My wife has named her "Dhu North" because we live in an area name "Rose Dhu".

[passagesfromtheheart]

Ahoy, DanRiddell, welcome to the CPYOA and so many CONGRATS on your new 2016 Com-Pac Horizon Day Cat! That is such exciting and fantastic news!!!

I'm hoping I soon may be of some assistance with respect to your questions -- I'm actually taking delivery of my new-to-me 2014 Horizon Day Cat this coming Tuesday! Once she's with me, I'll be in a position to show you how my boat is set-up so as to compare notes. I can post pics, etc. and look into the size of that bolt.

In the meantime, I'm betting another forum member may chime in, here, re: answering your questions.

Also, the seller I'm working with spent some time covering/discussing the cool system he'd devised for my boat's rudder lift rod/control bar -- it works really well and helps address some of the issues the Com-Pac control bars seem to often have (I even had the issue on my Com-Pac 23 as well.)

More soon and, again, congratulations on your new boat, Dhu North!

[Andre]

I too own a 2014 HC (NOT a Day Cat though)  and will be prepping it for winter storage over the next few weeks so may be able to provide some info. It's on a trailer in NJ.

Andre

[DanRiddell]

passagesfromtheheart, thanks so much for the welcome! Congrats on your 2014 Horizon Day Cat—that's awesome news!

I would definitely appreciate seeing pictures of your setup and hearing more about that control bar modification once you take delivery on Tuesday.

In the meantime, I'm thinking about either fabricating a new attachment point for the lift rod tang or using a piece of Delrin to drop the catch down a bit so everything engages properly without binding.

Good luck with the pickup and delivery on Tuesday—look forward to trading notes soon!

[DanRiddell]

I too own a 2014 HC (NOT a Day Cat though)  and will be prepping it for winter storage over the next few weeks so may be able to provide some info. It's on a trailer in NJ.

Andre

Andre, thanks for the generous offer to provides some pics. Hope the winterizing goes well. Down here in Savannah, we are fortunate enough to get some good sailing weather throughout the fall and winter.

[brackish]

Your system looks like Compacs standard foiled rudder and no, that straight rod does not look right.  In the full down position, the tab should fit tightly just under and contacting the delrin plate and the rod itself should be curved so that it fits in the slot in the casting.  The way yours looks, it will allow the foiled rudder section to come up slightly causing serious weather helm or kick up fully.

Even with the system correct I used to get a lot of nuisance kickups when the tab would slide laterally off the delrin plate.  I did this to correct.

https://cpyoa.com/forum/index.php?topic=7267.msg53521#msg53521

[passagesfromtheheart]

Ahoy, DanRiddell! Thanks for your kind reply and I have some goodies to share! I took a bunch of video, as well as pics, of the control bar/rudder lift when my new-to-me 2014 HDC was delivered this past Tuesday. I have to reduce file sizes, etc. to fit on this forum/platform so as to post successfully -- I will be working on all of that, hopefully, this wknd.!

Will share ASAP to see if my boat's set-up could be helpful to you. :-)

Fair winds!

[DanRiddell]

I fixed the rudder lift rod issue. I repositioned the tang with a Tig weld and now the rudder stays in the down position nicely and will pop up if rudder hits a sandbar.