I recently splashed Voyager and on my first voyage I was encountering a very stiff helm. It was physically difficult to move the tiller to port or starboard once my turn went beyond, say, 30 degrees to either side of the centerline. While docking I had to use my leg as a brace to hold the tiller over while making a tight turn, such was the resistence. Is this usual? I know there’s a barn-door sized rudder back there, but on other boats with external rudders I’ve never encountered this level of stiffness.
Also I’ve read that the BCC has an unbalanced rudder and am curious as to what exactly this means.
The BCC’s helm can become "heavy’ when making tight turns but the degree of “heaviness” is very dependent on the speed of the boat. When you refer to “stiff” are you referring to physically stiff (tight) or a heavy helm? Did the rudder rotate freely when the boat was on the hard?
A balanced rudder’s center of rotation and center of lift are in the same location. When this is the case, the rudder is neutral and there is no “pressure” on the helm when the rudder is rotated. A perfectly balanced rudder will have no neutral point, i.e. it will not self-center. If the center of lift is slightly behind the center of rotation, the rudder is said to be partially balanced and it will be self-centering. In the case of the BCC’s rudder, the center of rotation is at the leading edge of the rudder and the center of lift is between 25-33% aft of the center of rotation. The rudder is not balanced, has a very strong self-center moment and the helm becomes “heavier” as the rudder is rotated further from the centerline of the boat.
I’m referring to a heavy helm, and on the hard the rudder rotated freely but always self-centered, something I found a little annoying as I worked on refitting the stern area.
Thanks for the excellent description of balance/unbalanced. It clarifies much. The rudder begins getting heavy at around the 25-30 degrees off center and is very heavy at fully over, requiring considerable strength to hold. My experience with the heavy helm has come on tacks and when in tight quarters berthing the vessel, and it leads me to wonder how well my Monitor and/or ST4000+ will perform if required to correct course should Voyager venture that far off the line.
Warren, I read your comments and Rods excellent explanation of the balanced rudder.
I read your comment:
“I’m referring to a heavy helm, and on the hard the rudder rotated freely but always self-centered, something I found a little annoying as I worked on refitting the stern area.”
Your comments confirms that the rudder was not binding between the gudgeons and pintles while the rudder weight was on the gudgeons. This leaves only three possibilities.
The rudder is buoyant and will have a tendency to float while in the water. Make certain there is a nylon or teflon washer between the bolts and metal washers that prevent the rudder from lifting off the gudgeons. These are screwed into the bottom of the upper two pintles. The washers reduces the friction from the buoyant rudder.
The most likely reason is the unbalance helm. Because the BCC has such a large main, the sails must be kept in balance. That is, when you are sailing and you let go of the helm the boat should continue on course but then slowly turn up into the wind. I strongly suspect you are sailing the BCC like a high aspect ratio boat. Try reducing the main one or even two reefs and see how that works.
Now, I could be entirely wrong if you are having a problem steering the boat under power then it is simply the big “unbalance” rudder.
Question: When you are in the slip and the boat is not moving, push the tiller all the way over to port and then starboard to see if it returns to center. If it does not, let me know I will explain the problem.
Roger Olson
Warren, I read your comments and Rods excellent explanation of the balanced rudder.
I read your comment:
“I’m referring to a heavy helm, and on the hard the rudder rotated freely but always self-centered, something I found a little annoying as I worked on refitting the stern area.”
Your comments confirms that the rudder was not binding between the gudgeons and pintles while the rudder weight was on the gudgeons. This leaves only three possibilities.
The rudder is buoyant and will have a tendency to float while in the water. Make certain there is a nylon or teflon washer between the bolts and metal washers that prevent the rudder from lifting off the gudgeons. These are screwed into the bottom of the upper two pintles. The washers reduces the friction from the buoyant rudder.
The most likely reason is the unbalance helm. Because the BCC has such a large main, the sails must be kept in balance. That is, when you are sailing and you let go of the helm the boat should continue on course but then slowly turn up into the wind. I strongly suspect you are sailing the BCC like a high aspect ratio boat. Try reducing the main one or even two reefs and see how that works.
Now, I could be entirely wrong if you are having a problem steering the boat under power then it is simply the big “unbalance” rudder.
Question: When you are in the slip and the boat is not moving, push the tiller all the way over to port and then starboard to see if it returns to center. If it does not, let me know I will explain the problem.
Roger Olson
Roger Olson is probably the leading expert on how the BCC is built and sailed. When I wrote my thread, I did not think about a balanced sail plan. We try to sail our BCCC with two fingers on the tiller. This calls for a balanced sail plan.
Roger can lend more comment about balancing the sails. Following is what we learn from Roger and trail and error.
1st reef - mainsail at 12 - 14 kt of wind depending on point of sail,
2nd reef - roll in the jib until about 75% area is pulling
3rd reef - either furl the jib or take another reef in the mainsail
4th reef - roll up the jib (the boat sails well with one or two reefs in the main and the staysail)
The boats also sails well under head sails only, as well as with one reef in the main, no staysail and about 75% of the jib out.
We have not been tested beyound this point.
The BCC sails at 10 to 15 degrees of heel. Hess built in some form stability when he designed the the and unlike a classic wine glass hull which likes a 15 to 20 heel angle, the BCC should be sailed more upright.
Regarding your windvane steering system. Windvane steering system require a balanced helm or they will not work very well. You can have a little weather helm but too much weather helm cause the boat to zig zag alone its course, such that the zig zags become larger and larger as the windvane over corrects.
Need to run, so we can leave on our two week sailing trip.
Well, this weekend I went to the boat and checked rudder movement at the dock. I pushed it hard over to both port and starboard and there it remained. It did not self-center in either situation. I was unable to determine if there were teflon washers located where mentioned because of the murk, but there was what appeared to be one under the top nut of the toptop-most pintal/gudgeon, so perhaps she’s properly fitted out. I’ll try to get a better look once I’m out of the waters of Tokyo Bay.
So what might that third possibility be?
And BTW: Roger, love your book! I’m looking to my rig solar panels and also introduce other changes to Voyager based on the information you provide so clearly.
Now I am certain of your problem. Before I get into that, lets look at that top nut and washer that hold the pintle into the gudgeon. There must be some space between the pintle and the bottom of the gudgeon. If it is touching, it will cause friction and a stiffer helm. If it is touching then add a washer that is smaller than the pintle between the two. This large teflon washer is only to prevent the rudder from lifting off the gudgeons if you are grounded. There should be another at the second gudgeon at the waterline…
I am certain that your gudgeons and pintles are not aligned properly. This means you will have to take the rudder off. To solve this problem properly, you should have the boat out of the water (sorry!).
There are two things you can do to see how bad it is. First try loosening all the bolts that hold the pintles to the rudder. Now work the rudder back and forth, going hard over from port to starboard. If your rudder seems to work easier then you “might” get by adjusting just the pintles. To determine which pintle is causing the problem, tighten then one at a time. The one out of alignment will
have to have the holes drilled bigger to make the adjustment.
The second and actually the best way to solve your problem is:
Find a 1 inch steel rod or borrow one. It must be as smooth a a baby’s bottom and long enough to go through all three gudgeons at once. One end should be slightly rounded so it will pass through the gudgeon freely. Now begin by passing the rod down through the top gudgeon, then the second and third. It should pass freely through all three. If it does not, you will have to make adjustments to the gudgeons where they fasten to the transom. Remember, to re-bed them well when re-installing. Also, make sure you have Teflon or Nylon bushings in the gudgeons. You can get these over the counter at McMaster-Carr.
If you are really lucky, the rudder will fit on and your problem is solved. If it does not go on easily then you will have to loosen all the boltes, remove the pintles, clean the rudder, re-bed the pintles and re-install but do not tighten the bolts. Set the rudder on the pintles and slowly begin tightening the bolts as you move the rudder from side to side. I find it best to do the tightening on the extremes or when hard over.
If you have further questions or problems…ABOUT ANYTHING WITH YOUR BCC, please feel free to contact me directly at xiphias37@yahoo.com. I do not often come up on the forum so this would be much quicker.