Hello, I recently acquired an Ariel that needs a fair amount of work, including needing a new rudder. Is there any place where I can buy one? I am not very knowledgeable about boats (yet) and I'm "do-it-yourself challenged," therefore anything beyond cosmetic work must be done by someone else. The guy who is working on my boat told me to try to find a rudder, but if I'm not successful, he will try to rig it where the shaft runs down the outside of the rudder. He says it won't be as hydrodynamic, but will suffice for pleasure boating. Does this make sense to anyone? Thanks, Angela
As an introduction to the subject, click on the "search" button at the top of the page and type in rudder. You should learn quite a bit. BTW - the manual has drawings of the rudder & rudder shaft.
Welcome Angela
These rudders tend to look a bit funky, although they're actually in good shape.
Can you post any pictures?
Here's a rudder photo from Dave Bogle's homepage.
(http://www.bway.net/~bogle/92Rudder.jpg)
See Bogle's whole story (up until last winter) at
http://www.bway.net/~bogle/rudder.html
The latest is that my rudder is missing a chunk. I'll be posting more on this later.... This is the winter of building a new rudder, and I've already decided it will be to the original construction method, though maybe a different shape/size.