hard to steer

[lewy]

Hi All.

I have a 42ft long 7ft6" wide "narrowboat" and have always had problems steering it ,whilst going forward the tiller arm always tries to pull all the way either to the right or to the left, in reverse it goes to the center ( which seems wrong to me) I took the boat for blacking whilst I was on holiday and asked the fitter to check if the rudder was ok .

when I got back I was informed that the rudder was fine, having struggled with the steering for the past year I decided to feel under the Boat and found the following the Rudder is about 4" from the screw and the rudder itself is 24" long with 10" in front of the rudder post and the other 14" aft , to me that would suggest that it is overbalanced and why I have problems , am I correct?

[bizzard]

5 minutes ago, lewy said:

Hi All.

I have a 42ft long 7ft6" wide "narrowboat" and have always had problems steering it ,whilst going forward the tiller arm always tries to pull all the way either to the right or to the left, in reverse it goes to the center ( which seems wrong to me) I took the boat for blacking whilst I was on holiday and asked the fitter to check if the rudder was ok .

when I got back I was informed that the rudder was fine, having struggled with the steering for the past year I decided to feel under the Boat and found the following the Rudder is about 4" from the screw and the rudder itself is 24" long with 10" in front of the rudder post and the other 14" aft , to me that would suggest that it is overbalanced and why I have problems , am I correct?

Yes. Over balanced lee helm is horrid and dangerous, one daren't let go of the tiller.

[lewy]

This used to be a hire boat as well which is why I thought it would be all correct !!

[Detling]

You need to cut some off the front, I had this and thought I could get used to it (been steering yachts for 40 years). It is dangerous as if things go wrong as they surely will some day you have no idea of where the boat is going when you turn round, or bend down to pick something up, but it won't be straight on!.

You should be able to get the rudder off with the boat afloat and cut a bit off the front try it and if necessary repeat. I was lucky I took about 30% off and it is now perfect balance at normal speed and self centre at tick over.

[bizzard]

8 minutes ago, lewy said:

This used to be a hire boat as well which is why I thought it would be all correct !!

There is a ratio for this, but I can't remember. I think for a narrow boat the balance bit needs to be no more than about 15% of the trailng part of the rudder. You would need about 4 or 5'' cutting off it. And then ''like a cars steering'' the tiller should more or less safely self centre if you let go.

Edited July 12, 2018 by bizzard

[bizzard]

17 minutes ago, Detling said:

You need to cut some off the front, I had this and thought I could get used to it (been steering yachts for 40 years). It is dangerous as if things go wrong as they surely will some day you have no idea of where the boat is going when you turn round, or bend down to pick something up, but it won't be straight on!.

You should be able to get the rudder off with the boat afloat and cut a bit off the front try it and if necessary repeat. I was lucky I took about 30% off and it is now perfect balance at normal speed and self centre at tick over.

Yes, lee helm on a yacht is highly dangerous and terribly tiring.  Unexpected gybe if you relax a bit.

Edited July 12, 2018 by bizzard

[lewy]

Thanks Guys , I need water about 4ft deep to drop the rudder as its welded to the post not bolted , on the Monmouth and Brecon canal that could be a problem as its shallow , but I will get it off and as suggested  cut some off the front and weld on  the rear .

perhaps then I can let my wife steer whilst I visit the Head

[DonCorleone]

22 minutes ago, lewy said:

Thanks Guys , I need water about 4ft deep to drop the rudder as its welded to the post not bolted , on the Monmouth and Brecon canal that could be a problem as its shallow , but I will get it off and as suggested  cut some off the front and weld on  the rear .

perhaps then I can let my wife steer whilst I visit the Head

Drop it off and get it back on in a full lock - plenty of depth and easy to find again if you lose it !

Edited July 12, 2018 by DonCorleone

[dave moore]

The boatbuilders I work with reckon on having the flight plate at 20% of the rudder blade behind. Hope this helps.

[Murflynn]

do the job in stages.  stage 1: no need to drop it off, just get a mobile fabricator to cut half the front rudder off - don't bother with any welding for the moment.  As you know, there are some very short pounds on the M&B, if you speak nicely to the mobile lockies they may be able to arrange to drop the level for a few hours so your man can work in the dry.  Unfortunately the peak holiday season is with us, so you may have to wait till September. 

[Boater Sam]

Mine was like that till I welded 4" on the back end. Now it steers in reverse at tick over and steers without power forwards, much better.