The Class Constitution says:
......The rudder shall not be modified. Provision is hereby made for a complete redesign of the rudder. Such a redesign shall not preclude the use of the factory original rudders, nor shall the redesigned rudder weigh less than 95% of the original rudder. Materials used for construction of the rudderpost are not specified nor regulated as long as the rudder and shaft weigh no less than 30 pounds. Only one such redesign shall be approved for class use and shall be approved by majority vote of the membership.
I have thought quite a bit about this lately. I have a boat with the Moore rudder and will be changing to an original rudder just as soon as it arrives from San Francisco. I had seriously thoughts about building a new rudder like the original in the event I couldn't locate an original rudder. After reading the above excerpt from the constitution, the Question is....is a change in material from the original rudder foil itself constitute a 'redesign'? I would say it does. It appears that the writers of the Constitution would have included the term 'rudder' in the sentence that specifically allows alternate materials for the rudderpost if they had intended for an alternate material be used for the rudder. From a technical stand point, a 10 pound rudder with 20 pounds of 'corrector weight' at the waterline is unquestionably an advantage over a 30 pound appendage swinging around 2 feet below the waterline. If a 10 pound rudder isn't an advantage, why not build a 30 pound rudd! er and gain the benefit of the extra strength and stiffness?
The constitution may need to be clarified, but as I read it, an 'original' rudder would be of the same material, shape, and weight as that supplied by George Olson. I'm not saying I wouldn't support a lighter, newer technology 'original' rudder, I just read it that the Constitution currently doesn't permit it.
Chuck Queen
O30 #31
Received on Wed Jan 13 16:30:06 1999