Since getting Spice I’ve noticed that the steering gets stiff under load, and I’ve wondered what could be done to improve it. That, combined with not knowing how much play is too much play, led me to drop the rudder this winter with an eye to replacing the bearings.
Naturally, it was a snowstorm the day we went to drop the rudder, and we had to dig in frozen soil to make room to drop into.
After getting the rudder out we discovered that the lower bearing was actually a solid bushing. Surprising, considering that the original had been a Harken roller bearing, that they would have altered it with the new rudder to a bushing. Certainly lasted well, and would have continued to do so, but I wanted to be able to feel what the boat was doing going upwind, so a better solution was in order.
A call to John Rae at Competition Composites in Ottawa (purveyors of Jefa bearings) turned up a few different solutions to get roller bearings installed. Two primary choices – self-aligning or fixed-alignment; then some details after that. I decided to go with self-aligning for two reasons:
- Any movement or bending in the post is automatically compensated for, and any misalignment on my part is also; and
- The lower bearing came in it’s own tube which meant that I didn’t have to worry about getting the bushing out without damaging the boat, and could proceed with removal and installation.
Once committed we started removing the old rudder tube, which was quite a job – it is a strongly built unit! It took an open mind to start hacking away at it, and some innovation in tool selection to get in amongst it without damaging anything else in the boat. Eventually it was cut out, though, and with a template and some router bits we cut a new hole for the large tube (260mm diameter).
With the hole cut there was considerable cleanup inside the hull before gluing it in place (thickened epoxy) and then glassing it (epoxy and biaxial cloth).
Some paint and we’re ready inside the boat, but the new bearing system relies on a gaiter to keep the ocean on the right side of the hull, and the rudder post has flat sides to attach the quadrant and tiller arm, so it was necessary to round it out so the gaiter would seal against it.
A quick mold and more thickened epoxy and it’s ready to go back in.
Dad dug a hole to let us re-insert the rudder
We got the rudder in place
And made some adjustments to line things up as well as we could. The top bearing had a smaller outside diameter than the old one (8″ vs. 9″), so it was going to take some additional work to secure, and I decided in the interests of getting the season started to use the old top bearing for the year, as it is actually in pretty good shape.
I don’t have any good photos of everything back together, but I did take one after the gaiter was installed
Jefa sent along regular hose clamps – long ones, but serrated, or whatever that style is called – which I wasn’t all that happy with. McMaster Carr sent me a really robust one for the top (t-bar, or something?) and the best they had for the bottom – they didn’t have the style from the top available in the length of the bottom. So there are two on the bottom, and I’m confident in the ocean staying where it belongs. The tube is considerably taller than it used to be also – at least 100 mm, which helps.
The new bearings are absolutely perfect. There is no more friction at 25 degrees of heel than at the mooring, and I feel everything the boat is doing. It’s quite magical.
So now we’re just enjoying the boat again, which is exactly what we are supposed to be doing!
