Noisy rudder

[slash2]

Well, as I wait for warmer days, I’ve starting to make my list of things to fix or upgrade on my boat. One of the big ones- to me anyway - is rudder noise. When the winds are light and swells go by, the rudder bangs around. For some reason that noise really irritates me. I tried adding washers, heat shrink tubing on the rod, and springs between the eyebolts, but nothing really works. There are two sources of the noise, up and down due to a small gap between the eyebolts, and side to side due to space between the rod and the eyebolts. I suspect the fix is to use real gundgeons and pintles. Has anyone done that mod, and if so what parts did you use? I see a potential problem in that I imagine the rudder doesn’t have much down force on it and might want to float off the pins. I’ve also experienced standard rudders making noise, so changing over may not help much.

I did see some posts on fixing the problem when anchored, but not while under sail.

[dbeck]

Have a look at our post here [1]. Sorry, I don't have final pictures. We had added a plastic washer at the top gudgeon and a small aluminum anode at the lowest gudgeon to reduce corrosion between the brass and stainless steel axis. There is a tight fight in the up/down direction. Initially, we also had a side-to-side movement (the inner diameter of the fittings is slightly less than 10mm and we had to use a 9mm axis). This was cured by a plastic plain bearing in the topmost gudgeon. The rudder is quiet now.

We have used these fittings [2], maybe you find them in the US. An alternative might be the ones made by seasure, which seems to be a US brand (?).

[1] viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1096&start=30#p5920
[2] https://www.toplicht.com/hull-deck/stee ... omed-brass

[slash2]

Thanks- yeah that’s probably the way to go with the pintle pinned to keep the rudder in place. Thanks.
I noticed in the next entry on your blog that you changed the location of the jib jam cleat. I did the same. It’s much easier to work that way, especially when solo sailing,

[Hooky]

Thanks for the info Steve, I agree a noisy rudder banging away would resonate throughout the boat and drive me crazy.
I found the eye bolts in the hardware package I purchased were 15 mm internal diameter whereas the pivot rod was 12.5 mm in diameter which resulted in a 2.5 mm gap or movement.
I did a bit of shopping around and sourced some eye bolts with a 13 mm internal diameter. Using these in conjunction with some washers I made from "Starboard" above below and in between the eye bolts gave a nice fit with no gaps or movement. I guess the proof will be in the pudding when anchored.
I also added a third set of eye bolt s with washers for additional strength.
Check out the build on my Blog
Cheers
Terry from down under.
https://hookypocketship.blogspot.com/20 ... udder.html