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Is it OK to sail into beach with rudders down?
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Author:  Tarzan [ Sun Nov 30, 2014 10:40 am ]
Post subject:  Is it OK to sail into beach with rudders down?

Is it acceptable to sail straight into the beach with the rudders down and allow the bottom to lift the rudders as I hit land?

Author:  ovaxitd [ Mon Dec 01, 2014 2:02 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Is it OK to sail into beach with rudders down?

only if you want to be fixing rudders in the offseason. and the bottom for that matter.

Author:  Tarzan [ Mon Dec 01, 2014 6:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Is it OK to sail into beach with rudders down?

Got it. Relatively speaking, the boat is going reasonably slow when I hit the beach. I was hoping that if I was going straight forward at the time that I actually hit the beach that the gradually sloping sand would just lift the rudders with no damage done.

It says in the manual that if the wind is blowing onshore, like it is most of the time here, to turn the boat into the wind at the very last second and drift backwards towards the beach. I am pretty new to this but do you do that when you are surfing waves towards the beach? If the wind is blowing parallel to the shore, then it would be a little easier to turn upwind just before hitting the beach, but I would sill be turning broadside to the waves.

When you say "the bottom for that matter", do you mean the bottoms of the hulls? I thought that plastic was more resilient than that, but I guess over time the abrasive nature of the sand can wear anything out.

Author:  ovaxitd [ Mon Dec 01, 2014 7:01 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Is it OK to sail into beach with rudders down?

What kind of boat do you have? I only say "the bottom for that matter" in regards to fibreglass bottoms wearing down over time.
Obviously if you have a beach break then doing anything but ridding up the beach would be impossible.

if its blowing onshore i personally travel in as slow as possible and pop the windward rudder up when a couple of boat lengths away then when 4-5 foot deep turn it and point into the wind stopping the boat. then crossing over and popping leeward rudder up while my crew jumps off and hold the boat steady.

i use beach rollers and put underneath and push backwards.

My boats at no time touch the sand.. scratches=slow ;)

Tarzan wrote:
Got it. Relatively speaking, the boat is going reasonably slow when I hit the beach. I was hoping that if I was going straight forward at the time that I actually hit the beach that the gradually sloping sand would just lift the rudders with no damage done.

It says in the manual that if the wind is blowing onshore, like it is most of the time here, to turn the boat into the wind at the very last second and drift backwards towards the beach. I am pretty new to this but do you do that when you are surfing waves towards the beach? If the wind is blowing parallel to the shore, then it would be a little easier to turn upwind just before hitting the beach, but I would sill be turning broadside to the waves.

When you say "the bottom for that matter", do you mean the bottoms of the hulls? I thought that plastic was more resilient than that, but I guess over time the abrasive nature of the sand can wear anything out.

Author:  Tarzan [ Mon Dec 01, 2014 7:22 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Is it OK to sail into beach with rudders down?

I have a Wave.

The beaches slope very gradually. You would be quite a few boat lengths away before you got to 4-5 foot deep water. If I left the rudders down then it would be imperative that I don't turn the boat once it starts getting shallow.

Author:  Fxloop [ Mon Dec 01, 2014 1:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Is it OK to sail into beach with rudders down?

On my 16, sailing solo, I pop the rudders loose when coming in - partially up - so when I go up onto beach there's very little force on them. This only works in light wind. In heavier wind I'd lock them up then jump off boat on the windward side, hold onto bow, and shroud and let the boat round itself up into the wind with everything unsheeted, then walk the boat in backwards. Make sure the rudders are up completely!

Author:  Bart [ Wed Dec 03, 2014 1:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Is it OK to sail into beach with rudders down?

On my Wave, I always pop the rudders up before they touch the ground. This is not the case with the hulls though. I always jump off and stop the boat before hulls touch the ground. Then I grab the crossbar and pull the boat onto the beach, scratcing the hull botom. There are many scratches on the bottom part of the hull but I do not care a lot since they do not have much influence on sailing performance.

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