transom hung rudder questions?

[sheboo]

Hi guys,
I have a colin Childs Kingfisher 31 steel yacht. It was originally designed with a tiller controlled transom hung rudder. Over the years this has evolved to wheel steering, with various cables eyc to make the whole mess work. Pretty poor, as we had to make a "bent quadrant" on top of the rudder, otherwise the cables would not work without tightening/loosening etc. We also had to contend with the fact that because the transom has reverse sheer, the arc of the rudder was not just horizontal like a normal one. And the cables had to stay outboard on the cockpit floor, otherwise they had to go through the floor, then up, along and acroos the transom, to the open again to connect to the quadrant on top of the rudder.
So I hate it, and its now all gone including the homemade steering pedestal!
I have a good steering pedestal to use, but I stlll cannot think of a good way to make the whole way work....
An idea that has merit is to ditch the stern hung rudder, move the whole shoting match forward, and make it go through the floor in a vertical plane, then connect it with cables just like a normal rudder on any other boat..
I am a bit scared of this idea, because it means putting another hole in the boat, which may leak even a fraction (with a ceramic seal as well as a stuffing box), and we all know what a tiny little bit of salt water can do sitting in the bowels of my steel yacht over a period of time!
Plys I;m not sure about the benefits of changing the designers plans, seems to be potential for unknown results??
But it makes sese, just because it gets rid of the rudder angle, so by turning the rudder vertically it is efficent instead of turning the rudder on an angle like now, seems very inefficent. And it does away with all the cabling problems, simply go down the pedestal through the floor, then right back directly to the quadrant on top of the rudderpost under the cockpit floor.
Anyone got any suggestions/problems/questions/ideas? I've even thought of going back to tiller steering, but I really like the wheel, and would like to keep it if possible
Hope you can help,
Cheers
Richard

[Tim B]

It's a question of balance. Moving the rudder forward to have it under the boat will balance the boat differently, possibly inducing lee helm.

One idea would be to weld a framework onto the stern to carry the rudder, then the rudder can be vertical, and the control system may be any preferred. This will still make a small difference to the balance of the whole boat, but the helm force will be drastically reduced.

Please note that because the framework is carrying the rudder, it will have to be built strong enough and stiff enough. I would advise seeing a designer to make sure that the frame is actually strong enough.

Tim B.

[sheboo]

Hi tim, thanks for your thoughts. I will not be actually mioving the rudder far ahead, in fact the base of the rudder will remain at the same point, but the top will go forward, and the angle will change from quite steeply in the reverse to the vertical. Being steel, I think strength would not be a problem. It has been suggested that I add a "suger scoop" onto the stern, and mount the rudder through this, but I like the shape of my boat and am reluctant to do any major change to the original design. Its a quandry. But I appreciate any input!
Cheers
Richard