the boat I have just bought has a drop rudder, it is 28ft long
It sits deeper then the keel and hits bottom first. There is no way of holding it at half depth so it is all the way down or in cockpit beside you.
This makes sailing the boat in shallow Morton bay vary stressful.
I like the current setup in deep water, the rudder has a nice feeling vary little weather helm and responsive. Has anyone set up a rudder that drops in and has a brake away swing option for stuffing up ???
Yes there is. See how you get on here. Over on trailersailerplace there are a few thread s on the how to.
What design do you have? A rudder longer than the keel? Racing design?
Firstly the rudder should never be longer than the keel, just not needed. Try and jam something in the rudder (a wedge in the case) to hold up enough to see how it feels with the rudder shorter than the keel.
Helm feel is not normally a function of rudder length, more rudder balance, boat balance and rudder shape.
Now to hold up while motoring in shallows.....is the rudder the same width over the top half? They usually are and if so you should be able to pack the case so that it's a tight enough fit to hold halfway up but also be able to move manually. You could also tr some shock cord run through some soft hose around the bottom of the tiller, back around the rudder. This will force the rudder fwd in the case and should hold it where you leave it.
As for kick up, not a fan as the force required to hold the rudder down when sailing at speed means the rudder will still sustain damage if it hits something.
Some RL 24s have a kick up drop rudder. Elasticated
Agree that trailersailerplace is the place to ask!
That looks and sounds like a Spider 28..yeah?
Marsm 720 extended in the transom and the keel don't know what else has been dune to it goes well still getting it worked out.
