Arne,

I used three 28x98 spruce planks and glued + glassed them quite heavily. We’ll see if this will last.

I also constructed a linking rod which can easily be put on or taken off. The rudders work very well together - tacking has become much easier.

It is obvious that on a run there is not as much power as needed in most conditions, but then again I don’t like a full run anyway, because Galion becomes easily very unstable and starts an aggressive sideway motion if there are significant waves present. I think this has something to do with the narrow bow.

However, on a broad reach the system seems to work very well. 

Arne,

yes - I lock the main rudder first, but it seems that in some conditions it’s best to leave it centered. Of course even this helps with the weather helm from the aux rudder’s point of view.

I made a ”negative” tiller lock that can be seen on the video (the teak block). I have a 6mm bolt on the tiller, and because the tiller can be lifted more than 90 degrees bacwards, I can insert the bolt in one of the holes on the teak block. This opens up lots of space in the cockpit!

The aux rudder is close to what you drew, but I made it a bit deeper and a bit narrower. I didn’t measure the exact balance, but I think it’s around 20+ %. The aux tiller is very light when you try it by hand. 

The vane is based on a 75mm central tube, which means that the movement of the steering ropes is quite short. This is why I have to fix them quite close to the aux rudder’s axle of rotation.

Scott,

Yes, no servo. 

I used David Tyler’s plans for the vane part, you can find them in the forum. The aux rudder is about 30-40% of the area of the main rudder.

Looks great, Jami!

It seems like you have the wind vane directly driving the aux rudder without a trim tab or servo pendulum, is that correct? I would appreciate it if you would share any detailed drawings or photos that you have.

The rainbow flag looks sharp, too!

Thank you for sharing.

Scott.

Scott,

If my vane is used to drive an aux rudder, the fairlead can be used, but the quadrant is ignored - that's part of the pendulum design. You simply mount the vane on a fixed platform anywhere on the stern, and then lead the lines via blocks to a tiller on the aux rudder. Obviously, the length of that tiller can be adjustable.

Although, to consider the matter in another way, if you were to take my pendulum gear, and instead of mounting the servo carrier on that 45˚ power axis, you were to fix the servo carrier rigidly to the boat - then you would have an aux rudder gear. Not a very powerful one, because it would be small, but it would work for a small boat.

Yes, I put a sheet of thin plastic on either side of the vane turret to save wear and tear.