From: Joseph Jacobs
Sent: March 30, 2023
To: Will Curry
Subject: Re: Hydrovane Rudder | Jacobs

Hi Will,

We crossed the Atlantic (3 weeks) early January in mild conditions with the HV steering 95% of the time. No big winds (30 KTS max) but agitated sea and lots of sargassum. Now we’re island hopping from Antigua down to Trinidad and haven’t used the HV much. As I stated in earlier mail, the HV (we baptised it ‘Julian’), is the best addition to our boat. So far, the rudder doesn’t show any cracks or other defects but we have to really snub it with bungees in the marina or anchorage if we don’t want to be in a Neal Peart session. The rumble is generated by the give in the rudder itself, not the shaft.

I always free the rudder, once out of the marina (reversing with a Hallberg Rassy is difficult enough without an additional rudder).

If anything comes up with the rudder, I’ll let you know asap.

Cheers

Jos