Prindle Gen II Rudders - Setting Rake

Anyone remember setting these up for a 19 or an 18-2?

Is setting the rake for the newer style Prindle rudders the same for the older ones... I was playing with it this weekend and it seems almost impossible to get the leading edge about 1/2" aft of the transom which is a good starting point for the old style per the Prindle Owners Guide And I do have the extend gudgeon.



These are the ones I am referring to

If you can't adjust anymore and don't want to cut into your rudders, you could fill the bolt hole and drill a new one

Since you're at the end of the adjustment, I'd sail it to determine if they need to go further forward before doing anything else.

You absolutely will need the newer style rudder gudgeons. The newer rudders were designed to be mounted with the new style. Do not re drill the rudders. I have owned several P19s and P18/2s and all were upgraded to the new style rudders and new style gudgeons. You need both.

I have gudgeons... pictured above

The new gudgeons sit much further aft and so do the rudders. There is no way you should try and adjust the rudders to the 1/2 inch method. That is an adjustment only for the old style gudgeons which obviously make the rudders sit much closer to the transom. If I was going to follow that theory I would add the distance from the center of the old gudgeon hole to the new gudgeon hole and that would be my new measurement to use. Hopefully I have explained it well enough. You can not change the distance that the rudders set away from the transom and use the same 1/2 inch. DO NOT DRILL NEW HOLES IN THE RUDDERS.

Remember the newer rudders are shaped differently as well. What I would probably do is find the center point on the bottom of each rudder, measure from the bottom of the transom up the bottom of the hull 40 inches, mark it. With the rudders in the locked down position measure the distance from the center point of each rudder to the 40 inch mark on the hulls and try and get the measurements as close to the same as possible. I have been using this method for a very long time.

Thanks.... I am looking at page 73 in Catamaran Racing for the 90.... It has a pretty diagram.

And, I talked to a gent that has these on his P-19.... he has the rake set so that the leading edge of the rudder at the bottom after you take the slop out is about 1/2" aft of the rear of the transom.... But this is on a 19MX....

Guess we'll start there and work my way to the right setting.... Once I get the mast rake figured out...

I had my 19 when the new rudders first came out. I had set them about where the old rudders were. I sailed the boat and adjusted the mast rake from there. I built my main with a bit more draft up top, so I had a bit more power in the back end. I had built my own modified gudgeons. To keep a neutral helm with a touch of feel, you will need to customize your mast rake. The different sail makers have the mast rake about the same place, but it will depend on how you sail the boat. For example, are you one that pulls downhaul pretty early, or do you muscle through it? I had taken the cleats off the downhaul and the crew used to play the downhaul as the fine tune main adjustment.

Thanks Scott... this is what I ended up doing... I have the leading edge set at about 1/4" aft of the transom.... as for the down haul... is set it to just about get the wrinkles out and leave it... with my wight and crew we don't need to be honking down to de-power...

Awesome. I understand about weight. At 240#, I sail a modified Prindle 18-2 and am most of the crew weight. I had been taking the weight factor, but am going to just add 40# to the boat and get rid of one of the correction factors. I have also put a set of carbon sails on the boat which almost eliminates the downhaul use. I can pull a couple of inches and that is it... Most of the time, I don't bother with it at all.