Anonymous wrote:

Hi Tony,

Is this rudder situation the reason you are not using your windvane system?

I would like to add that the endplates I put on Siskin's rudder are relatively much larger than what I can see on your (beautiful if I may) boat. 

brgds,

Antoine

Hi Antoine

Yes. Maybe I haven't experimented enough with the windvane, but as yet, I've had little success with it. And yes, I feel the rudder may be a significant factor in that.

Having said that, I read with interest Kevin Cardiff's report of perseverance with his windvane and realised I may well have not given it enough of a chance. Another factor is that I really like the controllability I have when using my Pelagic tiller pilot, so very much prefer using that. It's a marvellous piece of kit :) 

Thank you Arne :) Your article is a great help!

Anonymous wrote:

Tony,

 the first, cheap, quick and dirty mod could be to fit a big endplate to it. Its wingspan could be around 2/3 of the chord of the rudder at the tip.

Good luck!

Arne

PS: Big tiller angle tells about a  too small rudder

Thanks Arne. I have top and bottom endplates already, having been an attentive reader of this forum when I built the rudder :)

How much rudder balance would you generally recommend?

Sorry to bring back an old topic, but I am doing my best to research this topic and finding little of a concrete nature. I've just read the thread on Zebedee's rudder; like Zebedee, Tapatya often has a fair bit of tiller angle despite my best efforts at balancing sails. I feel that some rudder improvements may help.

I read with interest that increasing the rudder balance is probably the way to go - I don't really want to change the angle of the rudder stock (for want of a better word). I note that Paul says he has some 21% balance on his new rudder. That's significantly more than Tapatya has. Can anyone point me in the direction of finished improved rudder designs for Benford dories, or other relevant info?

Many thanks

Tony