the rudder set up on my warrior 29'6" catamaran is controlled by lines to a teather point half way up on the rudder and can be cleated off in either position, there is also a small hole into which a dowel can be inserted to hold the rudder in the down position and i gather that as soon as the rudder touches the bottom the dowel is sheared, i tried it out sailing on to a shallow sandy area and found that the whole process is difficult to manage and hanging over the stern to re-insert the new dowel is difficult and tenuous to say the least , a suggestion i recieved is to fit some sort of quick release cam or cleat, any ideas as to where i could research this problem?

the lines are situated on the other side of the rudder on both port and starboard,

It looks like the line that pulls the rudder to the down position could/would be cleated off to hold it down. The drawback to that is if you sail in shallow water the line could break. What about using a large bungee across the back of the rudder to hold it down. If you hit shallow water it still can kick up. BTW, how shallow is the area you sail in anyway? Is that really an issue?

Clayton

Also consider a Nacra PivMatic style release on top of the tiller arms. The "hold-up" system could be replaced with bungies, and the hold-downs with PivMatics. You'd need some sort of turning block near the head of the rudder-casting, tho. Good luck.

Use a ClamCleat C257 to hold the line. It has an adjustable setting to release under load.

-Mike

yep real shallow down here in the keys especially at low tide,the boat only draws a little over a foot and you can see the length of the rudder, thought over the bungie idea but with the uv and salt water it would be a temporary fix i think,thanks anyway.

mmm!i suppose i can find that where? excuse the ignorance but there aint much in the way of hard ware down here in keywest.

same problem, where could i find a pair of these? the local westmarine is not all that up on sailing stuff.

APS carries them. Part number C257, listed at $27.05 each. www.apsltd.com or 1-800-729-9767.

If I were you I'd save my money and find another way instead of the C257. A friend tried these for his rudders and while they worked ok in the begining, they quickly became a problem. There is a small plastic clip that wears and breaks.

I had them on an 18HT and they worked fine. I currently have them on my A2, and they still work well. Call Layline 800-542-5463

How often do you run aground with those boats?

In the A2, never if possible. In the 18HT, many times. We sailed it throughout the Florida Keys training for the '03 Worrell 1000. I retrofitted it with the Dotan rudder system just prior to the Worrell, and sailed the Tybee 500 using system. The cleat system had nothing to do with the change, we wanted a new rudder profile, and the Dotan fit the bill, and offered a different system for kicking up and down that worked well.

ha! now that looks like it may just be what i need, they appear to be adjustable so at a low setting it might not tear itself up im not setting the boat up to race or anything , just exploring around key west and then later a trip to the bahamas<shallow islands! no people!!>so thanks rhino and others.