Maybe I'm just unlucky, but this year I've managed to get a rope jammed in my rudder on two occasions. The problem is rope getting into the small gap between the front edge of the rudder and the aft edge of the skeg, below the bottom rudder bearing. Because the front edge of the rudder sticks out below the skeg, and is angled, any bit of stray rope in the water seems to be caught very easily.

Anyone else experienced this? Any ideas for a neat fix?

By Marco Thyssen on Monday, August 26, 2002 - 12:47 pm:

This happened to me only once in 12 years of sailing, and required drying out and removing the offeending bit of rope - the set-up on a HR 29 (where this happened)is the same as on the HR 352.
Every winter when the boat was laid up in the boat shed, I would look at this small gap and think about doing something about it - never did though. My thoughts were on fixing a kind of "Z"-shaped strip of metal on the skeg to let it overrun the gap with the rudder blade for an inch or 3. Any rope would thereby just harmlessly slide over the gap.
Do post your final solution on the discussion board!

By Duncan Wells on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 - 06:01 pm:

I caught a lobster rope and buoy across Lyme Bat this year at midnight in exactly the same spot that you did. Between the skeg and the rudder and the rope went up into the pintles. It was a swine to remove. Like the chap who replied to you I am going to fix a plate, angled down to avoid the rudder which would allow the rope to pass behind without becoming trapped. Also I will put a wire between the aft end of the keel and the skeg to stop anything coming up to wrap around the prop.

There is another option which I have heard of which is to attach a piano wire from your stem head down to the bottom of the keel - then nothing is going to come near your prop or rudder !

By Peter Brown on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 - 07:22 pm:

Sorry to hear that. I've just brought the boat back from Cornwall to the East Coast, and I was amazed by the numbers of poorly marked pots along some parts of the coast. As a result, I'd be very hesitant about sailing round there at night. I'm planning to take the boat out of the water this winter, so I'll work out a fix then.

By David on Saturday, December 06, 2003 - 06:55 pm:

I also had the misfortune to run into a unmarked fishing net and would like to fit a wire between the keel and the skeg, what is the best way to go about this? Can any ony help?