Seawind 1600 question

[windywindy]

Hi, new here....so howdy.

here's my question:

How much of a concern for a world cruiser should the adjustable spade rudders on this vessel be? Seems like contact with a floating log or something large while underway could pose serious risk of catastrophic damage to the steering system and potentially the hulls. Is this right? Has Seawind done something here to ensure these rudders are as safe as a skegged rudder system?

Anyone had experience with this vessel?

[Boatguy30]

Almost all cats have spade rudders. They much shorter than a monos so lesser leverage on the post in a collision.

You also have a spare. Not aware of any current production cat with a skeg hung rudder?

[windywindy]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

Almost all cats have spade rudders. They much shorter than a monos so lesser leverage on the post in a collision.

You also have a spare. Not aware of any current production cat with a skeg hung rudder?

Thanks. yea, seems that way. I've found some yards doing custom builds w/ skegged rudders, aluminum. I guess having daggerboards is no different. those are just as susceptible to underwater collision as a spade rudder.

I guess I can ask the builder directly what measures they've taken to ensure underwater contact w/ a rudder or daggerboard wouldn't result in serious hull damage.

Would still love to hear anyone's experiences w/ this particular vessel.

Thx!!

[PNWSalmon]

Yes, the props and rudders are subject to much more debris. You should be prepared to dive in to free stuff from the prop. It just happens more because if the design.

Having said that what a cool boat. Between the layout and the design, it’s a joy to sail. The interior / exterior space usage is so cool. And oh man, the shower is basically the best I’ve ever seen on a boat.

I personal wasn’t a big fan of the downwind motion in big wind , it’s a weird sensation, coming from monohulls. But overall it picked up way less gunk than twin rudder mono hull designs. Those mono hull designs with the rudders way out on the sides are insanity. I spent a whole week picking gunk out of the rudder.

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by windywindy

Hi, new here....so howdy.

here's my question:

How much of a concern for a world cruiser should the adjustable spade rudders on this vessel be? Seems like contact with a floating log or something large while underway could pose serious risk of catastrophic damage to the steering system and potentially the hulls. Is this right? Has Seawind done something here to ensure these rudders are as safe as a skegged rudder system?

Anyone had experience with this vessel?

I believe the rudder cassette on the 1600 is "fused" on the trailing edge and is designed to split open, releasing the rudder, if in a severe impact. It's done this way on most daggerboard rudder boats.

The mounting for the cassette needs to be very, very strong, and I believe Seawind has gone back and corrected some shortcomings in the mounts on sold boats.

The benefit with these designs is that it allows more efficient high aspect rudders since you don't need to be concerned with draft like a fixed rudder design. Deeper is better

[windywindy]

Originally Posted by Matt Johnson

I believe the rudder cassette on the 1600 is "fused" on the trailing edge and is designed to split open, releasing the rudder, if in a severe impact. It's done this way on most daggerboard rudder boats.

The mounting for the cassette needs to be very, very strong, and I believe Seawind has gone back and corrected some shortcomings in the mounts on sold boats.

The benefit with these designs is that it allows more efficient high aspect rudders since you don't need to be concerned with draft like a fixed rudder design. Deeper is better

Thx! Yea, I saw a video of owner of hull 6 film the entire retrofit of the more robust system. this gave me a lot of confidence in the system. Very cool how they did that.

System seems robust now and the boat does look like a great liveaboard. Thx all!!!

[Giova]

Hi

Look at "Harbors Unknown" on youtube. They have a 1600 and if I recall correctly they truly struggled with continuous issues with their rudders

[windywindy]

Originally Posted by Giova

Hi

Look at "Harbors Unknown" on youtube. They have a 1600 and if I recall correctly they truly struggled with continuous issues with their rudders

Thx for the note! Yea, I found them. they had to do a total refit of their steering system. the issues wasn't the rudders, but rather the bolts in the steering mechanism sheered off. the whole system was not robust enough for global exploration.

The good news is that by hull 12 (HU was hull 6 i think), the upgraded system came standard and they did a retrofit for all previous hull owners so everyone got the new system. HU did a video about how great the new system was, and Seawind got on one of their videos and showed all the new components.

Good to see a manufacturer accepting responsibility and doing the right thing.