Catalina Replacement Rudder for 1986 Mk I

[Kyle Ewing]

Barry--You may also try your Catalina dealer for advice on a new rudder.  In my case I ordered through them and they were able to arrange shipping with a new boat from the factory for no shipping fee.

[Ted Pounds]

Ted......I have a fin keel. Where do I find the printed specs for the new design?

Talk to Gary (see a couple of posts up).  He says he has the plans.  Or you could call Catalina.  They're usually helpful. 

[Barry White]

As always, I appreciate the observations, suggestions, and insights, especially the solution specific responses that were provided by many contributers.
Still waiting to hear from insurance regarding replacement.

Cheers,

Barry

[Gary Brockman]

Here are the copies of the Catalina and Foss replacement rudders superimposed over the old rudder.

Gary

[Ron Hill]

Gary : I'm sure that Foss knows what they are doing, but I've read a number of articles that put some merit to the elliptical rudder design. 

The articles that I'm talking about are of wing tip designs of the B17, P39, P40 (elliptical) and the P51 (square). 
Interesting, but I'm not in that league with the knowledge to enter that argument!!

Just pointing that out!!  Maybe Gerry Douglas just might know what he was doing!?!   A thought

[Gary Brockman]

Ron -

The Foss rudder is an elliptical rudder that was designed by Alan Andrews, who has designed a long list of highly successful racing boats on the West coast over the last 30 years from 30 to 80 feet.

[rappareems]

I replaced the rudder on my '86 a few years back... the key thing as mentioned is to take the quadrant with you to the local machine shop so they can get the drilling right.... I took the old rudder to use as a template the first go round, which they said would work.  It didn't ... the holes were off, had to go back with the quadrant to refill and redrill.  New rudder from Catalina as I recall was app $1200 and the shipping was no biggie... I would check with them before having a local yard fabricate something.  The new rudder is much more efficient...

[Barry White]

As the saying goes, "the Devil is in the details". I note that the new Catalina supplied rudder stock has an O.D. of 2.860"; my measurement of the original rudder stock on Endorfin (1986, C-34 Fin Keel Tall Mast), is 2.75" O.D., (tape measure, not by calipher). I have not seen a reference to difficulties encountered with this discrepancy in the stock OD. The tube that the stock must slide through is fiberglass, so is there sufficient "play" in the tube to accommodate this difference? Or are installers simply reaming out the tube to fit? I'd like to anticipate and deal with the problem in advance if need be. Any observations from those who have gone through the process? Please let me know.

Cheers,

Barry White
S/V Endorfin