Sport 40 Rudder Length

[Josh Stollfuss]

I noticed at the last race I attended that many of the sport 40's had their rudders shorter then mine. Currently the rudder on my sport 40 is 5-1/8". I noticed rudders that must have been an inch shorter. What is the consensus on rudder length?

Josh-

 

[P THOMAS]

Josh This is on a Super sport 45?I think the standard speedmaster 20 rudder is cut off about 3/4". the recomended lenght is 4" in the setup. If you have the setup sheets there is a fullsize picture of the rudder. Some have used the speedmaster 20 mini hydro rudder, but the smaller the rudder the looser the boat tends to run. As you saw at the race check what works for the other boats.

 

[Josh Stollfuss]

Yea it is one of you're SS45's. 4-3/4", I'll try cutting another 1/4 off the end. Anyone else want to chime in with the rudder length that works well for them?

Josh-

 

[Josh Stollfuss]

Anyone else?

 

[Eric Bourlet]

Josh I would suggest that you start with what the designer of the boat suggest. If you want to change things later that's fine, but you have to remember that these guys have years of testing and a good designer like Phil takes into account things like rudder length, rudder angle, a specific prop, turn fin... when they design a hull. You have to approach it like a total package and not just a bunch of odds and ends thrown together. I have always been amazed that a guy will buy a hull then not do exactly as the designer suggest and then usually the next step is we see them on here complaining the boat has some odd characteristic they can't figure out. Set your boat up exactly as the designer says to, even if the first thing you think (or some other "expert" says) "that will never work". You will most of the time be surprised that why gee it did what the designer said it would do. Then after that if you feel the need go ahead and make one change at a time to see what the change does to the ride. You will have the designers setup to compare weather you improved things or not. The rudder affects how tight or loose the boat is in both the straits and the corners subtle changes can have a profound affect. I doubt anyone will have a better way to run Phils hull than Phil himself and the same goes for the Mutt II and Mark.

 

[P THOMAS]

Yea it is one of you're SS45's. 4-3/4", I'll try cutting another 1/4 off the end. Anyone else want to chime in with the rudder length that works well for them?

Josh-

I just read the setup and it is 4 inches from the bottom of the hull to the bottom of the rudder.

4 3/4 is probally to whole rudder lenght.

Thats why we write up setup info there are so many varibles as to what hardware and where it is mounted, all this affects the boat in some way.

That boat has been around since 1990 The setup has evloved as the speeds have gone up. mainly strut setup and better turn fins are the biggest thing affecting the boat. That boat was designed to run at 50 and we are pressing it into the low 60 with some setups. Few years ago Mary Davis set a SAW record with it at 69mph. There is the 64mph record by Jim Vaughn with electric power too..

Gas guys Dean and Kenny stuck in a Z260 and went almost 80 I think.. Looked like aDrag Boat

Maybe I will break down and get a new one running.

 

[Josh Stollfuss]

I checked the rudder against the set up instructions and it is exactly the same length. I just noticed at the last race there were 7 SS45's and every single one of them had a rudder that was shorter then mine..

Josh-

 

[[email protected]]

Josh I would suggest that you start with what the designer of the boat suggest. The rudder affects how tight or loose the boat is in both the straits and the corners subtle changes can have a profound affect. I doubt anyone will have a better way to run Phils hull than Phil himself and the same goes for the Mutt II and Mark.

This is the truth! Me and a friend set up our SS 45's at the same time. I followed the directions my friend didn't. His sucked.... :lol:

 

[Josh Stollfuss]

Yada, Yada, Yada, You people can't read I guess? I didn't ask about inital set up, I was asking why at the last few races I've been to every SS 45 has one shorter rudder then what the instruction's call out. I don't need a dissertation on reading a set up sheet, I did that on my own thanks.. Mine is set up the same as the full sized illustration on Phils set up sheet, and it works fine, but when I see a half dozen other hulls the same as mine with shorter rudders that look to run just as well or better then mine it makes me think. I was just sking for suggestion on this subject..

 

[Duck899]

Yada, Yada, Yada, You people can't read I guess? I didn't ask about inital set up, I was asking why at the last few races I've been to every SS 45 has one shorter rudder then what the instruction's call out. I don't need a dissertation on reading a set up sheet, I did that on my own thanks.. Mine is set up the same as the full sized illustration on Phils set up sheet, and it works fine, but when I see a half dozen other hulls the same as mine with shorter rudders that look to run just as well or better then mine it makes me think. I was just sking for suggestion on this subject..

Well.......I would go ahead and cut the rudder down 1/4" at a time....As long as it will keep on turning and does not give you any adverse handling problems you should be ok. I agree with Eric on the initial set-up of a sport 40 (do what the manufacturer suggests), but there is nothing wrong with some experimentation if you can gain some speed. Everyone will have a slightly different set-up anyway and you have to set it up for your driving style anyway......The prop is the key to all out speed and handling anyway and I would tend to spend more time in this area than with the rudder......

 

[Mark Anderson]

A shorter rudder is going to be less drag in a straight line. If you get too small it will have to be turned too far to make the boat corner causing extra drag. Also if the boat takes a hop in the corner and pulls the rudder out of the water it is going to get ugly. Alot of it depends on how you drive. I like to drive lane one, and you will find a very large rudder and fin on my boat. The boat has to really get out of shape before it pulls anything out of the water. On the other hand Gary Pruese has one of my boats and runs a tiny rudder and a smaller fin than I do and loves it. It all comes down to how you want the boat to feel. I personally think races are won in the corner so would give up a couple of mph in a straight line to have a boat that rockets around the corner and will hold it's lane no matter the water conditions.

Much more important than size is proper alignment, and tuning of the rudder/fin angles.

 

[norm j]

B) hey josh why dont you ask one of the people, from that race,

like ron berger jr or mark mccray

norm

 

[teddyd]

HEY JOSH,

MY SPORT 40 WAS ONE OF THE BOAT AT THAT RACE. YOU ARE RIGHT,

MOST OF THE SPORT 40'S RUN WITH SHORT RUDDERS, MY RUDDER IS SHORT,

3 1/8 IN FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE BOAT.MY BOAT COMES OUT OF THE TURN

WITH OUT SCRUBBING OFF MUCH SPEED. I CUT MY RUDDER DOWN UNTIL MY BOAT

WANTS TO KEEP TURNING OUT OF THE TURN AND REPLACE IT WITH A RUDDER 1/2 LONGER.

MOST OF THE FAST BOATS HAVE THE RUDDER ABOUT 3 IN FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE BOAT.

PHIL SETUP WILL GET YOU IN THE BALL PARK, BUT YOU WANT TO RUN FAST,

YOU NEED TO START TUNING THE PROP, STRUT, PIPE, RUDDER, TURN FIN AND ENGINE........TEDDY