Association Forum - Rudder Down or Up when at Mooring??

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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Rudder Down or Up when at Mooring??

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rhs944
Deckhand

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USA
14 Posts

Initially Posted - 11/22/2023 : 09:11:28

Looking for the Pros/Cons of rudder position when you have a swing type rudder and leave her at the mooring. I have a C250 with wheel steering and she sits on a mooring all sailing season. The prior owner would lift the swing rudder up when at the mooring, so i have followed that practice. That said, I noted that practice seems to vary when I look at other sailboats on moorings around me. Some swing the rudder up, others even though they swing, leave them down. I have seen posts relating to tiller removal and knocking, but not about rudder up/down position when at a mooring

Insights welcome

Ric

Rick 1999 C250 WK, Cape Cod

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5851 Posts

Response Posted - 11/25/2023 : 13:55:15

No replies yet. Not many here have kick up rudders. I'll offer my thoughts FWIW. If you're in tidal waters and on a fixed dock, you need to either dock bow first or adjust your spring line to ensure that the rudder won't rub the dock as the tide rises and falls. If you're on a floating dock it's less of a concern.

If you have a river flowing through your docks, creating a cross current, raising the rudder would create a longer lever-arm than if the rudder was down. That longer lever-arm would put more of a load on the pivot joint of the rudder. If you tie your dock lines loosely, as I do, so that the boat can swing back and forth in the slip, that constant motion could gradually wear the rudders pivot point. That might sound insignificant, but people who don't lash their rudder in the slip often have to replace their pintles and gudgeons, which wear out due to that constant motion.

I don't know why the PO kept the rudder up in the slip. Maybe the rudder's manufacturer recommended it. Maybe there was no cross current flowing through the slip.

I think your best source of information is the PO. I think the answer to your question really depends on why he did it, and the conditions that are unique to your slip. I suggest you call him and discuss it with him.

Steve Milby J/24 "Captiva Wind"
previously C&C 35, Cal 25, C25 TR/FK, C22
Past Commodore

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9013 Posts

Response Posted - 11/25/2023 : 14:16:27

If we're talking about out on a mooring where the boat swings with the wind and/or the tide, my question is whether the rudder blade lifts only to horizontal in the water, or past horizontal and mostly out of the water. (I'm not familiar with the beaching rudder on the C-250.) If the former, Steve's point about the lever arm being longer when horizontal is good--the horizontal blade will tend to work harder against the gudgeons and the steering system in waves. If the rudder lifts out, I'd keep it up, which would minimize those forces. Also, if it's out of the water, it might reduce the tendency to "sail up on the mooring" since it will let the stern swing more easily, keeping the bow into the wind--just a hunch.

Dave Bristle
Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT
PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired),
Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 11/25/2023 14:20:26

glivs
Admiral

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USA
822 Posts

Response Posted - 12/21/2023 : 09:37:40

Steve and Dave addressed the mechanical aspects of your question. I would suggest you also consider the vulnerability of your rudder to external sources of damage, such as boat traffic. Granted, if you have an outboard that is raised out of the water while on the mooring, it will alert other boaters to steer clear of the stern but ... things happen. Just suggesting you consider your mooring location in making your decision.

Even in a well protected commercial mooring field, you may experience notable traffic passing through the field after dark, fishermen trolling through the field or even the occasional skipper willing to sail onto a mooring deep within the field. I hang a solar-powered lantern from the boom to help alert other boats. None-the-less, over the years (~15), we've been T-boned three times while at our mooring hard enough to require gel-coat repairs.

Gerry & Leslie; Malletts Bay, VT
"Great Escape" 1989 C-25 SR/WK #5972

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3368 Posts

Response Posted - 12/21/2023 : 17:52:23

Considering the pro/con keeping the rudder up or down, I really do not see any benefit of keeping the rudder up which basically puts the rudder in a horizontal position. Perhaps a portion of the rudder would be less prone to fouling when in the up position but the rudder is not all that hard to occasionally clean it in the down position and it is not like all those that have fixed rudders see a benefit to remove their rudders off the supports and lay it in the cockpit after sailing. I agree with the horizontal pivot arm being a con and while it is probably rare that the rudder would cause a waterway obstruction, being that a passing boat would have to be awful close to your boat to hit a raised rudder, it is still a possibility. My own experience when I had an ODay23 moored for 5 years in Huntington Harbor, Long Island is that with tide and wind changes and the occasional movement of the mooring and that all boats do not always turn in synch with each other, it is possible that a raised rudder could wind up getting hit by another moored boat.

Probably all these scenarios would be unlikely to be of significant negative concern if you decide to keep the rudder in the up position but they exist and something to at least consider, especially since there may not be any benefits to outweigh the negative concerns.

Larry
'89 Robin's Nest#5820, Potomac River/Quantico, Va
http://catalina25.homestead.com/olarryr.html

Edited by - OLarryR on 12/21/2023 17:54:09

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.