Rudders...to remove or not to remove? That is the question.

[rghdc]

I have been involved in a discussion on trailering cats stern first on the Cat Sailor Forum and it spun off into a discussion on removing the rudders when trailering. A couple of posters had a strong opinion that the rudders should be removed to prevent undue stress on the transom and associated attaching hardware, as well as causing slop in the steering. Stating that this could have a serious effect on how a boat finished in a race. Doug was specifically talking about the Hobie 16 when making his comments and I would like Bill or Matt’s comment as to whether this could be a viable problem with the Supercat/ARC boats? Specifically my 1992 SC 17 which I never remove the rudders to trailer the two blocks to my launch site.

Regards,
Bob

[Bill Roberts]

Hello Bob,
You have just hit upon the reason the SC rudder system has 1/2" diameter rudder pins. Also the rudder pivot system aluminum castings are thick where the rudder pins pass through to increase the bearing area.
When I was a kid sailing Snipes, the rudder pins were 1/4" in diameter brass. It didn't take more than one summer's sailing for the pivot system to get worn out and sloppy. This experience is why the SC system has large diameter rudder pins with so much bearing area.
Bill

[rghdc]

Hi Bill
One of the things I have most admired about the Supercats over the years has been your designing/building them for real world conditions and not something that needs to be babied.

So if I am reading you correctly, while this may be a viable concern for Hobie owners… it is not a problem to trailer my SC17 with their rudders in place. Thank you for such a quick reply!

Regards,
Bob