[Rhodes22-list] Curved Rudder | 84 Rhodes 22

[Chris on LBI]

Thank you Mary Lou (and Fred). That is really interesting. Especially 
since some of the R-22 rudders (at least Roger's and one of Bob's) don't 
go past vertical. I have to wonder if a change to some other component 
of the boat led to a change in the way Stan was configuring the rudder.

This thread was started by Bob who noticed that the two rudders/heads 
that he owns are different. It would be really interesting to know what 
motivated the change at the factory. My rudder is on an '86 that was 
reconditioned in '07.

I think my experimenting next season will involve, with the rudder 
forward, sailing as hard a beat as possible and tacking a few times, 
then setting the rudder vertical and, while still beating, tacking a few 
more times while using the tracking app on my phone to record the 
results. I'll then be able to analyze the tacking angles when I get 
home. My hypothesis is that the tacking angle will be tighter with a 
vertical rudder.

As a thought experiment, if I were to move the rudder forward of the 
transom, the bow would tend to want to rotate more to leeward (resulting 
in lee helm). Conversely, if I were to move the rudder aft of the 
transom, the tendency would be for the bow to rotate to windward 
(weather helm). If the rudder were too far aft of the transom, I'd have 
to steer too hard to lee, probably making the boat feel sluggish since 
the rudder would be acting as a brake.

Chris