The simplest and quickest way to get the rudder going again was to attach the rudder fittings to the original fixed rudder blade.
Removed the pintles and tiller fitting from the broken kick-up rudder. Then bolted these fittings onto the original fixed rudder blade. It was a fortunate piece of spare gear that came with the dinghy sale. The original blade was beautifully crafted from a single piece of oregon pine or similar, faired nicely and varnished. The fittings had come off this blade once so they fitted on easily again (with a little bending of the tangs)
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| Original fixed rudder blade Fatty Knees dinghy |
It certainly looks allot stronger than the kick-up rudder. It is definitely allot simpler. Only bad thing is it is a fixed blade with no kick-up function, hitting the bottom should never happen. It needs to be fitted in deep enough water and removed likewise. Some new techniques to devise and learn for getting away, returning and navigating shallow waters - such as using an oar as a sweep in the transom notch.
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| Shipping the rudder, lower pintle first |
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| Rudder shipped. Gudgeons and pintles detail. |
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| Tiller fitting |
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| Raised tiller position |
Anyway the dinghy's seaworthy again and plenty of time gained to repair the broken kick-up rudder
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