I read the article in the last Newsletter about Cartouche's rudder failing in the Channel Isles. It got me thinking that my Andiamo is number 27 and Cartouche is number 28 - was my rudder about to part company with the tiller also? Mervyn Atkinson remarks on the 'heavy steering' that his 28 shows on occasion - well mine does too. I decided that I didn't want to wait for the insurance company to pay for repair of the rudder after I'd been rescued by the RNLI. I didn't want to pay out lots of money to do it myself, either. It occurred to me that thinking of money was a little premature and that rudder replacement might be looming in the future, but it would be a simple matter to contrive a torsional test of the rudder assembly, shaft and tiller which could be repeated every year to give confidence that the steering would not fail during normal sailing. I found two lengths of 3 x 2 inch (or thereabout) softwood and bolted them together with a piece of 8 mm studding through the propellor arch. This effectively clamped the rudder into line with the keel. I decided that the maximum load that would appear at the tiller end would be represented by that moment when the gust overpowers you and the boat screws up into the wind despite you hanging on with two hands and a foot on the opposite cockpit seat. I did a simple experiment with a spring balance to find out how much force I could exert in that condition - it was 56 lb, the maximum my spring balance could read. That seemed to lead on to a test load at the end of the tiller of twice this amount, ie, 112 lb. I used a single block lashed to the tiller end so that I could apply 112 lb load and measure it with my spring balance. The sheet winches were very helpful, allowing the load to be applied gradually. I applied the load in both directions and felt smugly satisfied when nothing broke and the tiller still lay amidships when I had finished. I crowed about my sucess in the boatyard shed but was shot down in flames by the guy who said 'Are you sure that your testing hasn't damaged the rudder and it will now break when you next go sailing?' Well, I had a good look, and as I said, the tiller still lies amidships, there are no cracks or other signs of strain around the rudder but I can't see the condition of the rudder shaft inside the GRP tube. Is it best to test or should you let sleeping dogs lie?



Neil Sinclair
Seal 28/27
'Andiamo of Exe'

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In my opinion it seems you have tried your best to simulate the breaking point of the shaft. The owner of Cartouche reported that he had examined the damaged shaft that had been removed and noted "corrosion pitting " approx 2 inches below the top of the rudder housing. Is it not possible to get at the glass fibre housing to perhaps cut an inspection hole to examine the state of the shaft and then make good? As you say number 27...28. I think it is better that you carried out a test, even better if the shaft were replaceable at a reasonable cost.

Gary/Ruth/& Skipper the Working Cocker Spaniel
Crew of Juicy Blue P235

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Thank you for your supportive comments Gary! I have been mulling over the possibility of changing to a transom hung rudder like the P235 for some time. I note that the Seal 850 was fitted with one and the handbook gives details of a 28 converted with a Seal 26 rudder and a wheel steering pedestal. I would however like to stay with tiller steering, which is a bit of a problem with the little after cabin getting in the way, so I am still thinking about this. I would like to end up with more positive steering and more directional stability, so a rudder of about the same area as the present one with the benefit of the longer moment given by hanging it on the transom and maybe a skeg in front of it seems to be in order. This will also have the benefit of all being visible for maintenance!



Neil Sinclair
Seal 28/27
'Andiamo of Exe'

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Hello Neil
I did some repairs to the rudder on Aztec nr. 26 in 2008.
I had been aware that the rudder casing had some sign of splitting on its leading edge.
I ground away a fair bit of fairly soggy glass fibre to what looked like reasonably solid laminate and then built up again to as close as I could to the original profile.
I did get to see the tangs and it all looked OK, there was no signs of pitting around the shaft so everything else was left as it was.
At the same time I had a new rudder shaft tiller clamp made out of stainless steel because the original bronze one had developed a crack around the pinch bolt and it could not be done up tight. It kept moving and making a clicking noise when I had a big following sea. It worried me at the time.

Mike Edwards
Seal 28 "Aztec"

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Mike

The tangs buried in the glass fibre layup of the rudder was where I would have thought failure would occur. It's interesting that you found them OK and Mervyn's rudder shaft failed nearly at the top. When I first bought Andiamo, the steering was quite stiff. When I got her ashore, I checked over everything and found that the shaft was stiff to turn in its tube. I tried to get some lubricant to go down the tube and found that the only stuff which would was WD40. I dribbled WD40 down the rudder stock and waggled the tiller every time I visited the boat and slowly the steering eased up. No WD40 ever came out the bottom! It has been fine ever since - but there is the suggestion that some corrosion is going on in there. Gary suggests cutting away the tube at the top to check the condition of the shaft. This is tempting - but I'm worried that it would leak and that the WD40 I've sprayed down there will mean that I wouldn't be able to repair it again if necessary.


Neil Sinclair
Seal 28/27
'Andiamo of Exe'

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Why not take the rudder and shaft out, it was not difficult on Aztec.
Remove bottom pintal, remove top tiller clamp, free the drop blade lifting strop, and lift the boat. I did it all while the boat was in the slings on the day I layed up for the winter.

Mike Edwards
Seal 28 "Aztec"

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