Carbon Fiber Rudder Design and Engineering

A carbon fiber rudder post is lighter and stiffer than a stainless steel post. By reducing the weight of the rudder, the pitching motion of the yacht is reduced thus improving the drive created by the sail plan. The increase in stiffness of the carbon fiber post minimizes the deflection of the post under load so that the rudder movement in the bearings is smooth and does not bind. This increases the response and "feel" of the helm.

The carbon rudder posts are either hand laid uni's cured in a vaccum bag, pre-preg uni's cured in a vaccum bag or pre-preg uni's cured in an autoclave. I have engineered all three versions on a variety of rudders and there are advantages to each method. Typically, the rudder blade is a thin layer of E-glass over a foam core.

Rudder designs in my portfolio range in size from a 34' sloop to a 145' catamaran. Builders of my rudders include Composite Solutions, GMT, and New England Boatworks with certification by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and Bureau Veritas (BV).

Click on the thumbnails below to see a high resolution .pdf drawing.