Re: HUMMING RUDDER

Hey, Deano.

Do you think your boat was still making that humming noise as it passed the Mozambique border sometime early on Monday morning? Bad luck buddy.

I own a Carbon Mako6 and experience a humming sound from about 12km/h and up.

I spoke to Keith Fenn about this and he confirmed that it is caused by a flaw in the rudder and the only cure is to replace it.

Any other ideas?

I paddle an Endorfinn (plastic surfski) and get a humming and vibration.

I tightened the trailing rudder and that seemed to make it less, but I can't tighten it any more as it won't flip down.

I noticed the humming on a friend's XT I tried. I thought it was pretty cool and fun to try to keep it humming. I suppose I might get a bit tired of it if it was my boat.

Stuart

Rudders on beach cats often hum at speed, often correctable by fairing the trailing edge. www.mariner-sails.com/cust_files/Hobie/hum.html or try www.catsailor.net/cgi-bin/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000089.html I suspect you can fix this

John.

Thanks for the suggestion.
The rudder is standard - although it may be more flexible than a new one. The flexibility ensures that it bends rather than breaks so that the mounting is saved.

I had a 9" rudder hum at about 6.9 mph, but not when going faster or slower; it was like a dull vibration that could be felt not heard. Quite obnoxious, actually. The cause, upon close inspection, turned out to be a vrey slight warp in the shape, it was not perfectly straight. The manufacturer was happy to replace it at no cost.

You could always try to block it down with a small piece of high density foam for your wetsanding block and 600 or 320 if you want to do more right away finish w/ aft flowing, horizontal strokes for best mental advantage. ..... if the rudder is warped, above work is moot. You could also add another washer ( or two ) to the post to take up a little slack in the up / down movement of the post itself.

Aloha, pog