rudder strength/stability??

[shamblin]

at first glance,  one wonders if the c27 rudder would be stronger if it had lower support/connection to a keel.  have there been many problems with the c27 rudder getting bent or disabled?  thanks.  bill in nc

[Allure2sail]

HI:
The rudder issue is a tough one to solve. The keel would have to be extended and the rudder reshaped. That's never going to happen, it would virtually take the keel and rudder design back to the days of a full keel sail boat. Those designs are for the most part long gone. A number of boats have the vulnerability of the rudder getting bent if the keel itself makes it over the object and the rudder doesn't. A Catalina in my marina suffered that faith last year, luckily a local machine shop with a large hydraulic press was able to save it. With so many wing keels out there that usually means the rudder is more prone to striking something. Perhaps the best way to handle that is to "know the water your in". As a side note the rudder that was on the parts boat was bent as well when I got it and became a throw away piece.
Bruce
S/V Allure

[wes]

Bill - are you thinking of getting a 27, you dog? She'll be the biggest thing on Lake James, for sure. I'll be pretty upset if you don't offer me a ride.

Wes

[Koinonia]

So far I havnt seen anything on strength being a problem.  Main thing to do it wiggle the rudder if possible to check for the bushing, I need to replace mine!  Im not a fan of full keels due to their drag and crappy turning radius in tight areas.  Full keels have a few perks but its my preferance for a fin keel.  The only time I think the rudder would be in trouble would be in an anchor dragging situation.  I have a 22lb danforth and another 20plus pound bruce hanging off the bow so hopefully Ill never have to deal with that.

[Allure2sail]

Hi:
In reference to your anchor statement. That is the same anchor that I use on Allure (22 pound Danforth) along with 75 feet of 1/4" chain. I would have liked to use 5/16 or 3/8 chain but the small Maxwell windlass that I put on three years ago calls for 1/4" chain. This boat has never dragged it's anchor and that is just perfect for me. Windlass runs off a group 27 battery located under the vberth in a battery box. It is keep charged with a regulated mid sized solar panel. I have found that you need a regulator on these panels otherwise you will end up putting distilled water in the batteries every month. I now only plug in the solar panel for a few days after each time I use the windless. Seems leaving it plugged in 24/7 was not necessary, only when I drew the battery down from useage. I actually got three deployments and retrievals of the anchor and chain in one day !!
Bruce
S/V Allure

Allure in her slip on Narragansett Bay


Off of the Elizabethan Islands heading east to Nantucket


Maxwell Windlass  & dual cleat installation

[Koinonia]

not trying to jack a thread but I like your windlass install, Ive thought about this myself.  Do you have any trouble getting the anchor into the roller with it?  when raising by hand I often have to twist the chain to get it just right and up on the roller.  Ive thought that if I did one I would just run a heavy guage duplex from my main battery bank up to the bow area.  How do you like your partial full batten main?  Thats another one that ive given some though to.  I noticed you have 5 instead of 4 portholes, Koinonia has just 3 which I kinda like.  This is all stuff that will take time as after my wifes kitchen Ill be installing a m25xp diesel in Koinonia with a feathering prop.

[Allure2sail]

Hi:
Windless install went pretty smooth. Only things I would have done differently are:
1: I used the original anchor line opening on the fore deck into the anchor line locker to locate the windlass by using that opening to match up to the opening on the windlass that drop the line into the locker. What happend was when I drilled the mounting holes through the deck to mount and position the gearbox in the locker it got awfully close to the inner wall of the port side of the Hull (about 1/16" of an inch). Would have liked a little more clearance between the gearbox and the inner hull. To do this I would have elongated the existing through hole in the fore deck towards the starboard side and just established a new center location to drill the hole pattern for the four mounting studs. In essence that moves the windlass assembly slightly towards starboard. This is ALL BASED ON THE SHAPE OF THE WINDLASS USED !!! I don't know if there are any of these Maxwells left on the market. I bought this one on sale at Defender as a closeout item (last years model).

2: The second thing I would do is sand and or polish the through hole and radius the top and bottom edges in the deck where the line drops to be as smooth as possible. Even coat it and sand it as smooth as possible. The anchor rode seems to catch on something as it make the transition from horizontal to vertical (have not yet figured out where it does). It is a pain to have to stop pulling the anchor up with the windlass and go below into the anchor rode locker and pull down on the rode, this only happens when the windlass is pulling the rode portion, the 75 feet of chain drops and stores flawlessly (wish I had gotton more chain). Although the 75 feet of chain and 22 pound danforth anchor has covered almost all of my anchoring situations. Make sure you use a swivel at the anchor. I painted the last 6 feet of chain bright red so I know when I'm about to transition to rode and I stop and back the anchor down there, works great for me!!!

3: The isolated group 27 battery (in a battery box) setup has worked perfect for me, it stays charged with the regulated solar panel, even though I only plug it in after I've used the windlass.
If I can be of any help don't hesitate to ask me questions.

In regards to your question about how my boat ended up with five port holes, the other two (one small & one large) came out of the parts boat. Absolutely hated to put a sawzall to the cabin walls !!!!

Fair winds
Bruce
S/V Allure