Hi
I have replaced my shorter and smaller lifting rudder blade with a larger and longer Winder one..mainly to provide more help in stronger wind in those "interesting moments"
The rudder stock is held in place by a 3mm circlip pin going through the lower pintle on the transom..which I believe is quite common

However the tendancy of the new rudder arrangement is to somehow slide the straight circlip off..I have changed this for a round circlip now...

Just wondering if any one has had the same problem?..or is it just the boat and rudder combination having a laugh at me..whilst it flew off the back..I was still holding it firmly..I lost balance and smaked my bottom teeth almost through my lip on the the traveller..ouch..

Tim B

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I'm not sure what you mean by a straight circlip pin but the normal way of retaining a rudder is to use a stainless steel rudder retaining clip as made by such companies as Seasure and available from all the chandlers frequently referred to on this forum. These clips cost just less than £3; you screw them to your transom between the pintle and gudgeon and have worked well for me for decades (and on a number of different boats). Don't buy the plastic versions! The other common way of securing a rudder (normally for fixed rudders) is to fix one end of a length of shock cord down near the inside bottom of the transom, put a hook on the free end and stretch the cord up and over the tiller and then back down to an eye, also at the bottom inside of the transom. I tried using an "R" clip through the hole in a rudder pintle once and was dissappointed to find it would bend when under stress!

Hi Richard

thanks for the response..
the "R" clip through the rudder pintle is the system at fault..it bent under stress..straightened out without warning mid race..and then came off..jettisoning the rudder assembly off the back of the bus

the said R clip became straightened..and had to be bent into a U for the rest of the race to keep the rudder on

Not sure the elastic bungee system is for me..I guess it's back to the spring retaining clip..or the round circlip..which has worked for the last race, but looked a little deformed with stress

Tim

Spring retaining clip?  Don't even bother, your rudder will just laugh at it - even the S/s ones.  R'clip through the pintle, and double 10mm elastic tightly over the tiller onto a hook.

Been there, tried all the options.

ATB

GGGGGGG

Double elastic has done it for us for years, without R'clips

Thanks Graham and Alan
for the vote for the elastic..
it's the trouble of sailing the Merlin in a local handicap fleet..you don't get to see all the mods 

I'll try the elastic on Thunderclap when she comes back from the paint shop after the bottom refair and shiny new paint job

Hopefully..I'll be able to get over to Hayling to show her off

thanks Tim