Rudder Placement Question We were repairing some wet coring around the gudgeons of my J24 that caused us to remove all of the hardware. Once we finished the repair and we were getting ready to replace the hardware, one of my crew asked what was the best way to place the rudder and what the rules were on rudder placement. Marshal Schoenthal Washington, DC
Answer Rudder placement is one of those "undisclosed" tidbits of information. It hasn't been a secret, but very few people are interested in going through the trouble because it can be difficult. 1. Make sure the boat is level on the trailer or stands using a level and a plumb-bob. In this step, it's actually more important that the keel is plumb than the deck or hull. You are trying to align the keel and rudder together. 2. Use the plumb-bob in the center of the transom to make a line down the transom that represents the keel's angle. On this line, you will place the gudgeons. 3. Most people argue that the rudder should be at minimum depth (860mm) because the rudder is already large enough, as well as to reduce wetted surface area. Mount the first gudgeon so that the rudder is at minimum depth. (I would like to give specific measurements on this, but the pintal placement varies greatly from boat to boat. Just make sure the bottom of the rudder is no less than but right around 860mm from the bottom of the transom.) 4. Once you have mounted the bottom gudgeon, hang the rudder so that you can see that your placement of the bottom-upper gudgeon allows the rudder to hang equally on both gudgeons. 5. Now mount the top gudgeon of each pair.
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