[Paddlewise] Rudder stuff

Tord wrote;

>This is not true, most of the time. When, say, a sailing canoe is properly
>trimmed there should be no load on the rudder (one of the beauties of
>a yawl rig is that it is much easier to achive it with such a rig), as that
>means least drag from the rudder, no matter if it is "profiled", or a flat
>plate.

 I believe most hydrodynamicists recommend some weather helm for the lift it
produces. When I raced sailboats (Finns, Thistles, Flying Dutchmen, Stars,
Ocean racing yachts  etc.) we always trimmed with slight weather helm.
Granted that was 30 years ago. Have things changed since then?

Would not an angle of attack be the rule rather than the exception? Would
not leeway in beam winds, yaw caused by strokes and  local changes of attack
due to rotational motion of water in waves put a rudder in a loaded
condition most of the time not to mention any steering action or failure to
have the rudder precisely aligned?

Cheers

John Winters
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