RE: [WWP] P15 Extreme Weather Helm

From: Ken Preston (preston@gencc.com)
Date: Tue May 02 2000 - 10:59:56 PDT


Years ago I lost the lower rudder hinge (the boat had all female hinge
components with a rod through the whole works, not pintles and gudgeons per
the Potter)on a 24'boat (fin keel, stiff and powerful). The day was much as
you describe. . .great sailing. The metal had fatigued and corroded over 13
years of use and was undersized to begin with (comparable to the P-15, for
maybe 5 times as much boat). The results were fairly spectacular. . .I held
onto the tiller and managed to save the rudder, had a welder build me much
stouter "hinges" and went back to work. No further trouble. I think,
inspect your metal parts from time to time and look for delamination in the
plywood part and don't worry very much! Someone else can guess if you were
doing anything wrong, other than having a good time when you could have been
working or mowing grass. . .

Ken Preston, P-15 #1063, Bainbridge Is, WA

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Stallings [mailto:stallings_mike@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2000 10:21 AM
To: wwpotter@egroups.com
Subject: [WWP] P15 Extreme Weather Helm

Hi,

    The other day I was screaming along on a beam reach in at least 15 mph
winds from the N with the tide coming in from the S. As the boat heeled the

weather helm became extreme and I actually feared something on the rudder
assembly might snap. Easing the sheets slowed the boat (I think) and
lessened the pressure. In retrospect, it is possible that I was
oversheeting.

    My questions are, was I doing something wrong, and has anyone ever
snapped something on a P15 rudder from simply going too fast?

    BTW, where I sail the wind is almost never steady, so eliminating
heeling is not an option (and I'm glad of it!).

Mike
P15 #1589 Alexandria VA

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