I bought a wave without any rudders for a great price. My dealer told me that a new pair of rudders and crossbar would cost about $1,000.00. I wanted to know what my options might be and/or help in getting a used set of rudders. I understand that the rudders and castings on a 17, 18, 20, Wave, & Getaway are the same. Your expertise on holding expenses to a minimum would be appreciated.

Bob Fraser
H20 1011

All of those boats have what you need. You will have to get the Wave tiller arm tubes only, and cut a x-bar to fit the narrower boat.

If you are lucky you might find a beater 18 for less than a grand. Part it out and you should get free rudders for your Wave.

Thanks for responding Jack.
I have fond memories of skippering your 20 flying your spinny 3 up off Sandy Hook the day after a SHBCC Statue Race. I wanted to confirm that I was on the right track before I invested in parts that would not work together. Not that I have found them yet.
By the way I really liked the 10 to 1 mainsheet on your boat and although I tied to replicate it with an 8 to 1 setup I'm not happy with it. It could be lack of maintenance though.

I think the rudder castings on the Wave are a little newer, there are some fitting issues with the gudgeons depending on 1 piece or 2 piece. Just double check before you buy-shame the style you are looking for, post 87' w/ Miracle-20 connectors to the crossbar are also the most expensive and darn near impossible to find used. There's a reason your boat was cheap! I might suggest the EPO rudders as well, they are a fair bit nicer feeling than the plastic variety.

Be careful modifying mainsheet systems. If it feels unhappy it probably is. We blew up a 8:1 mainsheet system adding a 9:1 purchase block while offshore in a leg of the Tybee 500 (I forget which, we broke a lot of stuff) on the N20. Harken was fantastic and replaced the damaged bits but I recommend using as designed.

Still want to get back and do another Liberty Race. Perhaps on the Wave with spinny!

The 20 has different rudder blades than the others, but EPOs are nice if you want y to spend the $$$. You don't need them to be competitive.

All the castings will work. Tiller arm tubes are the main difference boat-to-boat.

What year are your hulls? The castings are not universally interchangeable, since the pins are different on newer boats (made for EZ-Loc rudders, since 2006), verses the obsolete style (like for H17s, etc...).

You can tell the year by the end of the serial numbers.

The old style rudders fit just fine on the EZ-Lock style pins.

You can't put EZs on the older boats without changing the pins.

I have a pretty new boat, with a really old rudder system (came off an old Wave, so they weren't ancient). It does not (yet) have the Miracle-style connectors, and it is a pain to manage without them (installing, removing, storage). That will be my next upgrade.

The old castings fit just fine on the new pintles. Those pintles are a MAJOR pain to remove, and not cheap to replace, so don't bother. All you need to do is add a spacer between the top of the casting and the keeper pin hole. I use some wooden drawer pulls from Home Depot, drilled out and shaved down to size. Works great.

For the Madcatter this year, I finally installed my new rudders. These were white racing rudders from a H16, which were bought as spares jest before the new EPOs hit the market, but were never used. The H16 holes were filled with Marine Tex, and the rudders were redrilled to H17 specs. This worked much, much better than the old plastic ones that came with the castings (which weren't even the same color).

I added a tiller last year, and I am having a love/hate relationship with that. Takes me 3-4 races before I remember not to try to throw it around the back like on the H16. That does not make for good tacks...

Anyway, I learned most of what I know about these rudders from Jim Glanden (and quite a bit of sailing tips from Mimi). I hope this shared info helps. Let us know how you make out.

Mike

The EZ LOC (current) rudder system is by far the least expensive replacement option and the dealer is correct... just over $1,061 (USA / USD / 5-2013) plus possible freight. Aluminum castings and rudders are far more expensive.

1 39524001 TILLER XBAR WAVE "EZ LOC"
2 39312000 WAVE EZ LOC RUDDER ASSY
2 90880211 PINTLE UPR - EZ LOC
2 90880221 PINTLE LWR - EZ LOC
12 8030411 SCREW 12-24X3/4 LONG LOCK PHMS

Thanks to everybody that provided advice. Since I have not found a decent set of used rudders that I could re-purpose it looks like I will buy new. Now to figure out what I need to get the spinnaker that came (minus a pole) with the boat. This will be a hoot to sail this summer when I don't have my regular crew on the 20.

Matt,
Is the EZ LOC Rudder plastic?

Yes, plastic housings and rudders.

The EZ Loc system is performing flawlessly at resorts etc, so has proved to be very robust. Super easy to use.

Surviving resort life is certainly the acid test of durability!

I switched to the old system on the new boat, but other than being able to raise a rudder, I doubt there's much improvement for racing. And when it's windy, there's no time for messing with lifting rudders!

Mike

Never saw the reasoning behind lifting a rudder. Since the rudders are effectively the daggerboards, why not have more underwater lift?

Because all the fast 16 guys do it? Theoretically less drag, but it's not worth the hassle when it's windy. Don't know if it really helps at all, actually.

Mike

Carlton Tucker did it ... so it worked. He was reputable for driving through waves on any cat design with the windward rudder up - no matter how much pressure - I believe he inspired Randy into it, as well.

Mischa does the same on the F18 jib reaching same tack for long periods of time. Is only fast if the weather hull is constantly clear IMO and the helmsman is very good. For buoys racing I'd leave both down.

WEEDS! That's when it is worthwhile.