Rudder Bearing Info - J/28

[jason3317]

Doug,

I'm here....just not not as active as before (I ran out of questions/problems to ask....lol).

How the new 37c treating you? My folks still have the 34c.

-Jason

Originally Posted by j34035

Bill, where you from? Where do you sail. Always like to hear from jboat people. I sail on Kentucky Lake and there is a j/28 that sails here with us and is very competitive in our PHRF fleet. They are very nice good sailing boats. I have not seen Jason posting here lately so dont have your feelings hurt, but welcome to Sailnet!!
DD

[j34035]

Jason,
Good to see you are still around, I have not seen you post lately. The 37 is coming along. It had quite a bit of work needed as all 20 year old boats do, but all structual items were fairly minor and are now complete. We are working on sails and getting the bottom where I like it (slick) and just learning how to sail it well. That useally takes a year or two. Also I have gotten into sailing (crew) J/22's in my spare time. Not much time left to do anything else. Take care and post every once in a while!!
DD

[j34035]

Originally Posted by BillF

Doug,

Thanks for the welcome. I've lurked on sailnet for a few years with my previous boat making good use of some good knowledge here, it's a great resource. My wife and i just picked up a J 28, we live and sail in the Fisher's island sound area, western end of Long Island sound. Love the area, great sailing and access to some good cruising and racing.

We love the boat so far, but she needs some work and it will be an ongoing project for me for many years to get her the way i'd like to see her.

Thanks again Doug, and how do you like the J 34?

Bill

J/34 is gone. Someone wanted it worse that I did so I sold it, but it really was an outstanding boat; comfortable, fast, and good handling. I bought a J/37c in January and have been getting it up to shape this year. I have owned 3 J boats now and find they are the best out there (for me). Hopefully I keep this one for a while. Good luck with your 28, if you have questions, please feel free to PM me as I do have quite a bit of information on J's that I have gathered over the 12 years I have owned them.
DD

[Kutter]

You might want to look at some of the new composites rather than delrin, these have far lower wear rates and run smaller clearances.

The problem with delrin is that it is a melting material so it softens as it is worked hard and gets warm, it also expands more due to temperature change than moisture. Hard composites with dry lubricants now have some pretty low friction rates that perform very well even when compared to rollers and they suffer far fewer issues/failures. Search for marine composite bearings and you'll find the suppliers.