RE: P19 Swiveling Rudder
Eric Johnson (eric@theftnet.net)
Mon, 2 Nov 1998 09:35:59 -0800
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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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> Has anyone added lead ballast to the lower section of the rudder
> to keep it
> down and help lower it easier? Am considering drilling hole to fit a 5 lb
> weight, then fiberglass it in... That way when I hit a shoal it
> will lower by
> itself when I come out of shoal... Am getting tired of shoving it down...
A previous owner did that to my original rudder. Frankly, I hated it. It
made an already heavy rudder that much heavier, and a rudder ought to be of
nearly neutral buoyancy anyways. I've since replaced it with a lower rudder
of my own design that uses strips of metal at the wear points to keep the
cheek plates from digging into the finish. I'm thinking of building yet
another rudder, out of fiberglass, that doesn't pivot and is very light so
instead of kicking up the rudder, it will just be easy to pull off
altogether.