Skerry - what mods? Rudder, centerboard, seats?

Hi guys, South Florida Skerry builder here. I modified the rudder when the extension broke off (careless) to a straight tiller handle mounted to the top of the rudder. Drilled a hole through, now the tiller comes straight out and can tilt up and down. 

Problem is, the entire rudder assembly popsup out of its mounts - the pins pop up out of the gudgeons, and the rudder comes loose and floats away! Then the boat spins around and snaps off the boom, etc unless you drop the sail/unstep the mast and p[ut it down. Then row back to get the rudder.

I could put it on a leash, but I think I need to drill the mounting pins and secure them with a cotter pin. Anyone solve this problem?

How about the centerboard? Any neat solution that keeps it down when it's supposed to be down, but still lets it pop up when required? I guess a bungee...

Last, the seating is a little poorly placed. I need to move my weight around when sailing, so I end up sitting on the floor instead of the seat, then bracing my feet against the opposite gunwale. When the boat starts to heel I'll just slide to the bottom, which screws up the trim and balance. Has anyone built a bench anong the edge, between the rear and middle seats?

Haven't used it too much, been busy with my Kaholo SUP, but if I could engineer some solutions I woulkd be back on the water in my Skerry.

See videos here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yamf0lohIc&list=PLEyuE9z5X2-p_KO_X-9F0SckAb8-N0OMw

Any ideas?


6 replies:

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RE: Skerry - what mods? Rudder, centerboard, seats?

On my sailing dinghy I solved those problems with a piece of brass and a bungee cord.

The brass rectangle (more or less - it has rounded corners & such, picture available if requested) is screwed to the transom such that it can be rotated out of the way when putting pintles into the gudgeon, then rotated so that it pushed down on top of the rudder. That's enough to keep it from popping out.

The bungee is just what the daggerboard needs. As you say, it lets it pop up when it needs to (like when you run aground).

I've always sailed the Skerry sitting on the floor and only used the seat for rowing. I'd think that the weight of the bench and and crew up high like that would raise the center of gravity enough so that the stability would suffer.

Good luck,

Laszlo

 

RE: Skerry - what mods? Rudder, centerboard, seats?

Just watched your videos. Looks like a nice day on the water. It was funny how you arragned everythying  - you all the way back to balance your passenger, your foot forward to hold the daggerboard down. You made it all work out.

I was also a bit puzzled by your sail until I realized that it was the gopro fisheye effect that was sending your sprit to parts unknown. BTW, your snotter needed tightening. That's a great job for the crew - snotter tending. It's the one thing my wife knows how to do on a sailboat :-)

Wish the weather here was fit for sailing.

Laszlo

 

RE: Skerry - what mods? Rudder, centerboard, seats?

���Laszlo...I'd be interested in seeing your brass rudder preventer...thanks Curt

RE: Skerry - what mods? Rudder, centerboard, seats?

I've tried the little tab that swings down to prevent the rudder from floating out of the gudgeons. I have started using a small bungee from the top pintle to the bottom gudgeon.  It doesn't have to be too tight, just enough to overcome the buoyancy of the rudder, that way I can still pull the rudder up into the boat if necessary. In regard to the dagger board, I've tied a loop of bungee around the dagger board trunk. It's long enough to pull back under the thwart, over the top and over the daggerboard. I've made it such a length that it applies enough rearward tension to the daggerboard, whether it's up or down, to hold it in whatever position I put it. 

RE: Skerry - what mods? Rudder, centerboard, seats?

   I had the floating rudder issue on my first skerry sea trial also.  I'm trying a rudder stop like is used on Lasers and such.  I'm just putting all the hardware back on after painting, so I will see how it works.  It's an inexpensive little stainless spring tab:

I got mine from APS (apsltd.com) since they're local.  Here's a link to a shared Google album, if I did it right, of how mine is going on:

https://goo.gl/photos/9MQRXBtZnNH7oTYy9

 

RE: Skerry - what mods? Rudder, centerboard, seats?

   Great ideas gentlemen, thanks a million. I'll go wih the suggested bungee solutions for now and keep that rudder clip in mind for a plan B.

Thanks, enjoy!

Dave

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