Noticed a few recent pictures of folks hauling their cats with the rudders attached. I had always removed them. Leaving them attached makes setup and teardown just that much faster and given that I don't have a traditional boat box, it solves the storage issue. Cat is a Nacra 5.2. Any thoughts/advise?

Thanks - Dean

OFF!!!

ON!!

Hummm... Respectful of the advise of the experts (Mary and Tom), so I should leave just one on?

Off!

Definately--OFF. Having that extra wieght dangling off of the back of the boat while bouncing down the highway has to take its toll on the glass and I doubt very seriously that it outways the benefit of saving three minutes on the beach while setting up. But I guess if it does you can alway call Jake. I hear he has gone into the fiberglass business full time. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I keep them on on my Tiger. I guess if I would do more than 3 hours drive I would put remove them.

On!

Clayton

Tornado sailors (and A-Cat sailors) would probably never dream of leaving rudders ON for trailering.

Rick and I are weekend warriors. And we would never dream of taking our rudders OFF for trailering. We also do not disconnect sidestays or anything else that we can avoid disconnecting for trailering.

Kind of depends on how much of a "purist" you are, I guess. Our boats have traveled many thousands of miles with their rudders on, with no bad effects that we have ever seen.

OFF!

(I once saw a Hobie 20 go through a toll booth with the rudder swinging loose side to side...narrowly avoided having the rudder arm jam against the toll booth.) Too much risk for damage leaving them on.

If you owned a hobie, I could understand your fustration with putting them on and off.

I needed a damn hammer to get my 17's rudder pins in and out. The Nacra's just clip in, takes less than a minute to put the whole system together. They always come off unless I'm just dragging it from the ramp back to the lot slip.

Short distance in town to the beach or ramp - on. Anything over 5 miles or highway - off!

A lot of guys carry a 1/2" wrench around and take the rudder off of the lower cstng. Then they put a bungee cord between the lowers to keep them from flopping around. Quick and easy.

I have an 18 and don't have a problem removing/installing the pins by hand. I do have the one piece gudgeons but I don't know if that makes a difference.

Thats 'cause your rudder pins were lovingly crafted out of 316 stainless by me when I fitted the one piece gudgeons on that boat! Aluminum rudder pins are more prone to bending when the steering flops hard to one side - then making them difficult to remove.

All I did to make the pins was buy some standard size round stock from a hard ware store that carries stainless, cut them to length and drill holes in for the ring dings. I experimented with tubular stainless pins but they bent just as easily as the solid aluminum ones.

I'm in the rudders off school.

On...uh... Off... uh...On!

Just depends on how concerned you are about wear to the system. Ease of use and rigging... On. Racers usually like to take them off to travel.

Yeah, but if you take them off, how do you get them back on the correct sides? That's always been OUR problem. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
So we just put them on when we get the boat and leave them on until we sell the boat 20 years later.

On the Hobies it is easy, the rudder arms curve inward. You can also use a neat trick flumpmaster showed me. Wrap a band of red electrical tape on the port rudder arm and on the port end of the tiller connecting rod. Chris's rudder pins are top notch, I have had the boat two years now and have never replaced the rudder pins. The cams and plungers however have been replaced a few times.

Not ALL Hobies! I sailed out through the surf on my Hobie 18 with the rudders on backwards...I was pretty new to things and couldn't, for the life of me, figure out WHY the boat was so hard to steer and impossible to tack.

even thought I did hear that the rudders put lots of stress on the boat durring trailering, I trailered my 20 year old TheMightyHobie18 for years without removing the rudders (not an easy process on the hobie).

I had friends who set up a quick removal system but still seemed like alot of work. I never had noticable issues, but in the end i did have to get my rear beam re-welded in several spots. I think it had more to do with my main and traveler pressures... but you never know.

I know have a mystere 5.5 with a much easier removal system and i do remove them (even though i only live 5 miles from where i sail). I am almost more worried about rudder/boat damage putting the boat on and off the trailer.

i use some red tape on my tiller crossbar and some red tape on the starboard rudder. and it is very easy for me to take the little extra time.