Replacing a spade hung rudder for a twin transom hung rudders

[Noah Todd]

I have an Irwin citation 31, last hullout I saw some corrosion on the rudder post. I was playing around with the idea of switching it out for a transom hung rudder with a tiller. I like the feel of a tiller much better than a wheel and I believe it to be a simpler and thus a more reliable system.
I have yet to try a tiller one a boat this size so may my preference is ignorant.

I understand that moving the rudder Afft will change the balance of the boat, I just don't know how much.
It would move approximately 3feet back at the most.

If I don't rid of the spade rudder I will at the very least make a emergency rudder and a mount to hang it on the transom.

When thinking about the need for a spair rudder it only makes sense that having twin rudders would be a good alternative. What do you think about twin transom hung rudders set up to a tiller?

[boatman61]

Needless extra farting about, also.. on a 31ftr a tiller is no effort to handle.

[Franziska]

Rudders are a fairly small part of the lateral area.
Still, the repositioning will affect balance to some degree, but you can adjust for this by moving the center of effort of your sails accordingly. This can be done with more mast rake.

[boatman61]

I should add I was referring to the twin rudder idea, a single central transom hung rudder is enough for a little 31ftr.

[hpeer]

An auxiliary rudder wind vane will steer the boat for passages.

That should give you some inclination of the effect.

So why not fix your current rudder then get a aux rudder vane, then you have both and a good set up.

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by hpeer

An auxiliary rudder wind vane will steer the boat for passages.

That should give you some inclination of the effect.

So why not fix your current rudder then get a aux rudder vane, then you have both and a good set up.

True, but he would likely need to buy a wind vane steering system for that. Nice to have but fairly expensive, even used.
Unless he wants to construct /DIY one himself. Possible, but a lot of work.

[chrisr]

although in principal i like the twin rudder idea, it's really only useful on boats with very wide sterns eg open 40, where heel lifts the single rudder out of the water

pointless on a boat like yours

and they have the serious drawback that the rudders are no longer hidden behind the keel and like to pick up any random junk thats floating by

no harm to switch to a properly engineered transom hung rudder, but stick to a single

cheers,

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by Franziska

True, but he would likely need to buy a wind vane steering system for that. Nice to have but fairly expensive, even used.
Unless he wants to construct /DIY one himself. Possible, but a lot of work.

All true. Probably a lot cheaper than twin rudders OR an auto pilot. And he can can a Pelagic on it.

[Searles]

All doable, but make sure that the transom is strong enough to take the load ,which in somecircumstance will be extreme ,not maybe but will be .⛵️⚓️

[psk125]

Chrisr forgot to point out that twin rudders also don't get any prop wash on them, so maneuvering under power in a marina gets really tricky at low speeds because the rudder(s) can't redirect the moving water to make the boat turn. The boat is pushed forward by the prop, and the rudders can't turn the boat until it gets moving, and then the boat turns too late.

[marcjsmith]

Why not just use the emergency tiller location and use a proper tiller and remove the wheel/pedestal.

The transomon the the Irwin has a kink in the transom, near the sheer might cause some headaches from a Rebuild POV

Will need to move you backstay attachment, split back stay would be an option
Will ruin your swim latter and transom boarding access

On the plus, you could keep your quadrant in place and mount a ram type auto pilot