Dinghy Rudder Tips

boat rudder

Although small, the rudder plays an important function in a dinghy, and its design is enough to make the difference between a pleasurable and a horrible sailing. Also, a dinghy rudder is one of the most damage-prone parts of a dinghy so that you need to know which dinghy rudder is best for replacement. For the uninitiated, a dinghy rudder is responsible for banking the dinghy starboard or port during sailing. And since a large part of the rudder is submerge deeper into the water than the hull, it’s very prone for beaching damages.

The best dinghy rudder design

kick-up boat dinghy

If you ask a dinghy sailing pro about his or her personal dinghy rudder design choice, you’d almost get a unanimous answer: kick-up rudder. A kick-up dinghy rudder allows a sailor to focus on the competition without thinking so much about hitting the rudder hard to a kelp or beaching it on shallow waters. This is because a kick-up rudder springs up when it hits something in the water at top speeds thereby saving the rudder from serious damage. The mechanism is especially helpful when sailing on unfamiliar water where a sandbar or a kelp forest lurks to damage your rudder.

Dotan Kick-up dinghy rudder

dotan dinghy rudder

An example of a great kick-up dinghy rudder is one made by Dotan; the maker incorporates the kick-up mechanism to its innovative up- or down-and-lock rudder design. Dotan’s rudder design eliminates the need for rope or elastic band driven rudder that causes too much trouble when jammed. With its dinghy rudder, pulling up and setting down the rudder is as easy as a flick of a wrist. Example, to raise the rudder, you just raise the tiller up and when you set it down the rudder locks in place horizontal to the tiller. Repeat the same 1-2 action to set the dinghy rudder back down. Dotan offer rudders fit for 21-foot monohulls, catamarans, and even to small dinghies such as an Optimist.

Common kick-up rudder problems

boat rudder problem

The two most common kick-up dinghy rudder problems are the following: a.) rudder that’s hard to creep up and b.) rudder that springs up without tension. The first problem is common in poorly maintain or old kick-up rudder where deposits accumulate in the hinge preventing the rudder from kicking up. The second problem is present in poorly manufactured kickp-up dinghy rudder in which the hinge give way even without enough tension applied. Sometimes this may be remedied by changing the hinge, but often times you may need to replace the rudder.

Related Posts: