Quote:
Originally Posted by heinzir
Cameron,
Thanks for the explanation. I was not planning to make any changes to the rake angle anyway. I would have to add an extension to the lower pintle attachment to make it more vertical. I was just curious if the forward angle of the rudder was detrimental to performance since it is opposite the aft angle on my daughter's Sunfish and many other small boats.
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It's a complicated design problem that sorts the good Naval Archi-types from the bad, I guess (note: I'm not one).
My guess is that the aft angle on some small boats has nothing to do with performance, but is intended to (a) improve slow-speed manoeverablity in surf and (b) minimise damage to the blade upon hitting the beach. I say this because higher-performance
dinghys most always have vertical rudder blades and are pigs to turn on approach to a beach.
A forward-raked rudder like yours might be more manouverable, but you better not hit anything with it!
Happy sailing!
