DS II - rudder and Tiller

[moxie]

Had my first capsize and found out the hard way that the rudder retaining spring clip does not work well.

Before buying a new one at $475- thought I would try to make one (with safety pins). Is anyone willing to take and send photos of their DSII tiller/rudder assembly with a ruler in the picture for a scale reference.

With these it should be possible to make a scale plan and fabricate a new one at a much lower cost.

Thanks

[GreenLake]

The relevant measuremetns can be found in part 3 of the DSA handbook.

With those in hand you can build a conforming rudder (as well as have a scale for when you look at existing photos).

[persephone]

The head is not regulated. Look into plans for an aluminum rudder head. If you like I can send you pics of the one I built. Downside to mine is you need access to a machinist (or a lot of pads for a disc sander). Too late I discovered a company that sells raw carbon fiber sheets etc... If I were doing it again I would go this route to dump more weight.
The upside to making your own head is you can use any tiller you want. Personally I don't like the forked design of the stock tiller, which is why I changed mine.
If you do go ahead with building a glass replacement from scratch look into a foam or wood core. The original head is all glass and resin... costly and time consuming to make.
Sometimes you can find a used assembly, might be cheaper still than making it. If you don't race there are modern alternatives (plastic blades, metal heads w/ or w/o kick-up devices) for similar money to the stock version. I say if you don't race because these replacements are not class legal.

Good luck.

Geoff

P.S. I cross drilled my upper pintle to accept a retaining pin that makes it impossible for the rudder to fall off in the even of a capsize. D&R Marine only sells them this way now.

[moxie]

Green Lake
Thanks for the link to the dimensions - this will be a much better reference