MacGregorSailors.com

tkanzler wrote: What would be even sweeter would be to splice some shock cord to the downhaul part, so they'll have some resiliency when grounding.

Been there - redoing that. More to follow shortly (with pics).
Here's the old version:
Moving the rubber inside the boat - doesn't like UV.
Ross

Hmmmmm . . . . Hey Captain Crikey, I noticed those big washers on the OUTSIDE of your rudder brackets, (I'm not talking about the CD's on the inside, but the WASHERS on the OUTSIDE of the bracket).

I'm curious how you came to decide to add that (perhaps you have experienced something I have been dealing with).

your comments would be appreciated.

Boat, not much going on there - it was just the beginning of stiffening up the rudder brackets, though compared to what I did earlier, didn't add much to reducing side flex - if anything at all.
Not very pretty!

R.

Yup, you nailed it Crikey - BIG Question: HOW DO WE STIFFEN UP THOSE RUDDER BRACKETS!!

I feel they are way too soft for the kind of sailing I am doing out there in the ocean - I'm always bending them back into shape after every two or three outings.

What can be done??

BOAT,
How/where are they bending for you?
Could you give some more details?

My rudder pivot bolts need snugging up once and awhile as the ears spread, but I've never bent anything as far as I know.
Perhaps I'll need to look closer at them.
Thanks

Hello Captain Hardcrab:

Last time out I pull into the dock at the pirate bar after a day of sailing (just Saturday three days ago) and I look over the transom at the rudders because the port rudder was banging a bit on a port tack. The starboard rudder was looking good, straight down and a little bit out in the water behind the boat, but the port rudder was almost under the boat!!!!

The damn rudder stop pin was sliding right past the stop plate and the rudder was going all the way as far under the boat as it could go!!

The "ears" as you call them, have spread so bad the stop pin was just going right inside the ear instead of outside where the stop plate was!!

Those "ears" are too damn soft! Sometimes they get bent outwards by the rudder. I wish I could stop that from happening. To fix it I remove the damn rudder, put a block of wood in that I have cut the same size as the rudder base, and I put a big clamp on the "ear" and a breaker bar on the clamp, and I gently pull the "ear" back into the correct shape.

Is there a fix for "soft ears"???

Perhaps one of my rudder is out of adjustment? Anyone know a quick way to measure those rudders to make sure they are in "sync" with each other? (If they were not would it bend anything?) I need advice from people with way more years on these MAC boats than I have.

BOAT wrote:Perhaps one of my rudder is out of adjustment?

it definitely sounds like it. If the rudders aren´t perfectly parallel, they have to shoulder tremendous loads. A friend of mine had this on his Catamaran, one fine day one of the rudders simply broke away, and upon inspection the other one wouldn´t have held up for much longer too.

How do I check them? They don't 'look' out of alignment - can they be that soft? That even a tiny bit of misalignment can cause damage??

There must be a MAC 'rudder expert' out there somewhere?

BOAT wrote:How do I check them?

How to check:
- with the boat ashore, bring it to a horizontal position (put a level on the cabin floor)
- use a laser level, and going horizontal from the bottom of the boat mark both rudders leading and trailing edges
- now measure between the markings you just made, and hope they are equal

I can't put the rudders down when the boat is on the trailer. Is there a way to check the rudders while the boat is on the trailer?

Yes there is, but be careful!

You shouldn't climb on board when up like this.
Before this, I backed it over my roadside ditch but this year it's too wet to do now without leaving huge marks in my lawn.

Once you're there, snug the pivot bolts enough to still allow for a free drop, then see how much side to side play you have. that might indicate too much clearance in the rudder bolt hole which might result in the bending you are experiencing. In an effort to take out any little snippet of play that I could find, I fitted a SS tube, with epoxy, into the original hole after reaming it slightly. The bolt now has no play whatsoever.

R.

Woo, too scary - can't do that - I live in the city.

Is that the stock mast carrier on the back of the boat?? It seems higher? Is it higher??

(Is that a beer can in the picture near the edge of the driveway?)

After the rudders are down like that how do you know if they are in alignment?

Boat, not too scary if your vehicle has the 'moxy'.
You could always just dig a hole in your yard - sort of like a mechanics pit.
No beer can - spray nozzle. The empty cans are off camera filling my ditch!
Mast crutch is stock.
Take a look into the mod section for my Rudder Redux entry and also look into 'Hammers' method. I have just used a tape measure so far.
Ross

I have a similar system but rather than using a shackle with the block, I used about a foot of line through the rudder with a figure 8 knot for a stop and a bowline to the block. This way the block never touches the rudder.

Hey Crikey - seen the pics before of your boat on jacks - really scary!

A tape measure to just measure the front edge and then the back edge and make sure they are the same, right?

I can't dig a ditch but maybe I can hang the boat over the curb out front - I don't know if that would be deep enough - Your right - can't do this or line em up in the up position - they need to be locked down.

Did you have a lot of issues with the "ears" - did you ever find a solution or did that stainless sleeve solve the problem? I can see how that sleeve and BIG washers on the outside of the "ears" would help.

Did it work for you?