Hey guys,
On my Prindle 18 the rudder blades are loose inside the casting. Unlike loose women I feel this may be a problem. Any way to tighten them up with out buying new castings?

nylon washers work great....15-20cents each! tighten up bolt til rudder doesn't fall then back off til it falls...presto!

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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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That is so simple it did not come to mind. Off to the hardware store........

My buddy Greg makes rudder shims out of old milk jugs.He just cuts out the shape he likes and drills a hole though them.They last a few seasons too.
I like to cut out a large fender washer with a small tab on it ( for handling purpose) out of some high tech plastic sheets my machine shop buddy gives me.Zero friction and durable too.
Good luck,Bill 404 21SE

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Bill 404 21SE
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while your at it, go ahead and freshen up you connections from tiller crossbar to tiller arms and tighten up slightly the connection from tiller extension to the tiller crossbar(just to remove loose slack). now balance the helm proper(owners manual instructions) and the boat will be happy!

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Check out "Prindle Sailors" on Facebook!
bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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1st thing I did when I got my P18 was check out the steering system, learned from my H16 just how important this is on a cat, figured out how it operates but when I went sailing the helm was a bee-yatch! dropped the rudders on the trailer and fiddled with the lock down bolts and viola! When you shorten the adjustable lock down bolt, you rake the rudder under the stern, 2 benefits, better helm and the rudders lock down tighter, easier steering and no rudder pop-up with a bit of speed, also adjusted the rudders slightly toe-in, shims from hardware store to tighten up on slop and everything works great. Top of rudders have "swollen" causing a split along the seam and the rudder lines catch in this split, will have to fill this with epoxy soon as sailing season is almost here in the midwest

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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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Thanks guys.