RUDDER EXPERIMENT:
Mid-Season E Scow Experimental Rudder Report

by Lee Alnes (Euphoria W-25, 1993 Johnson)

August 2002

COMMENTS:

My boat was retrofitted in early May by White Bear Boat Works and finished in time for the first races on White Bear. Installation went very smoothly thanks to the detailed instructions provided by Melges Boat Works. Special thanks to Johnny Faye and Charlie Helmes for their quality engineering and craftsmanship at WBBW.

It should be noted that this is my third season steering an E scow and I have only sailed a newer boat with the Òmodern ruddersÓ a couple times. Most of my previous experience is limited to the old style rudders that were on my Õ93 Johnson.

I have now had a chance to sail the boat in all wind conditions from drifters to 20 plus mph. The new rudders are simply a dream to sail with. From the first minute on the boat it felt like I had power steering. As others have reported previously, the helm is much more responsive both upwind and downwind.

It is still possible to experience cavitation with these rudders, but once you get used to the increased responsiveness you will find that you really never have the situations where you used to have to ÒstuffÓ the rudders to recover from a dangerous situation. The first time I tried to lee-bow a competitor, I turned way too hard and practically stopped the boat dead in the water, but with some practice I got much smoother at maneuvering the boat.

There are a few situations where I feel the new rudders have made a marked improvement:

• on the starting line when quick turns are sometimes required,
• downwind during and after jibing,
• downwind on tight reaches, and
• in close port-starboard situations.

I have had two occasions where the new rudders saved me from capsizing and one occasion where I was able to recover from a very ill-timed port tack just off the starting line (with the old rudders I would have broad sided another boat right near the backstay, but to the amazement of all involved, I was able pull it off and avoid collision).

Are there times I wish I had my old rudders back? I have had a couple situations in extremely light air when the old rudders would have held a bit better because of their longer dimension front to back. In both cases the races ended up being abandoned due to lack of wind anyway.

Are the new rudders faster? Overall, I donÕt think so. Our crew work is improved a bit this year and I would attribute any improved performance to those factors. I have still had plenty of opportunities to plumb the wide open spaces of the back end of the fleet.

Are the new rudders slower? Not noticeably.

SUMMARY:

I highly recommend adoption of the new rudder design. I think all of the fears I heard voiced about this experiment and the possible adoption of this new bit of technology ruining the E scow experience have proven to be invalid. There is no doubt in my mind that the new rudders make the E scow more fun and easier to sail. However, if the new rudders are approved for general use, there is really no need to rush out and retrofit your boat in order to be competitive. An investment in new sails is far more likely to make you faster than an investment in new rudders. I would recommend the upgrade to anyone who has a propensity to capsize downwind Ð you will most certainly feel an improvement in your boat handling ability on high wind days.