Hi Folks,
Is there any top or lower bearing on a mirage 27 rudder? There seem to be some excess up and down play on the rudder shaft of my boat. I looked in the rudder shaft tube and under the plate where expected to find a top bearing and there was nothing. I checked a friends Mirage 27 and it appeared the same but he did have a plastic spacer/slider under the piece that connects the tiller to the rudder shaft . Perhaps all I need to do is replace this spacer.
Many Thanks,
Wayne
Mirage 27 "The Loon"
Hi Wayne: On my Mirage 27, 1982 vintage, the rudder is amazingly crude.
On mine there is a bearing above the quadrant at deck/coaming level,
while the quadrant sits on top of the glassfibre tube bonded to the
hull. This actually contains a metal tube with a grease nipple. But it
is not a bearing to stop up and down play. This seems to depend on the
“bearing” in the deck - what you refer to as a spacer. I made a new
bearing out of 3" x 3" x 3/8" UHMW (Lee Valley if you don’t have a
local plastics supplier) and mounted it with four screws. ( At least I
think it was 3 x 3, can’t remember, size is not too important in this
case). If you push the rudder blade up then attach the emergency tiller
then this will reduce play. But I would leave a bit of up and down play
for if you try to take it all out the rudder will bind. You can do the
job without fear of the rudder dropping out for it will be held up by
the quadrant - I assume you have wheel steering, I don’t think they
made 27s without.
So, to cut a long story short, make a new top bearing. We have a
“fleet” of four 27s at BBYC in Bedford, NS all with top bearings in
various states of repair.
Bye, Donald
Incidentally, I do not think that this is a suitable topic for the
Sailwave Forum! I haven’t been able to make a connection with race
scoring.
Wayne Hatfield wrote:
···
Hi Folks,
Is there any top or lower bearing on a mirage 27 rudder? There seem to
be some excess up and down play on the rudder shaft of my boat. I
looked
in the rudder shaft tube and under the plate where expected to find a
top bearing and there was nothing. I checked a friends Mirage 27 and it
appeared the same but he did have a plastic spacer/slider under the
piece that connects the tiller to the rudder shaft . Perhaps all I need
to do is replace this spacer.
Many Thanks,
Wayne
Mirage 27 “The Loon”
Hi Donald sorry posted to the wrong group it was a long night. I am also a member of the mirage users group as well as Sail Wave. I introduces Sailwave to Rothesay Yacht Club in New Brunswick when I was the sailing director. The program really was a perfect fit for our requirements.
The Mirage 27 I have 1979 vintage doe not have a wheel it has a tiller. Thanks so much for the quick response and answer I needed even though it was a incorrect port.
Wayne
Donald Wyllie wrote:
···
Hi Wayne: On my Mirage 27, 1982 vintage, the rudder is amazingly crude. On mine there is a bearing above the quadrant at deck/coaming level, while the quadrant sits on top of the glassfibre tube bonded to the hull. This actually contains a metal tube with a grease nipple. But it is not a bearing to stop up and down play. This seems to depend on the "bearing" in the deck - what you refer to as a spacer. I made a new bearing out of 3" x 3" x 3/8" UHMW (Lee Valley if you don't have a local plastics supplier) and mounted it with four screws. ( At least I think it was 3 x 3, can't remember, size is not too important in this case). If you push the rudder blade up then attach the emergency tiller then this will reduce play. But I would leave a bit of up and down play for if you try to take it all out the rudder will bind. You can do the job without fear of the rudder dropping out for it will be held up by the quadrant - I assume you have wheel steering, I don't think they made 27s without.
So, to cut a long story short, make a new top bearing. We have a "fleet" of four 27s at BBYC in Bedford, NS all with top bearings in various states of repair.
Bye, Donald
Incidentally, I do not think that this is a suitable topic for the Sailwave Forum! I haven't been able to make a connection with race scoring.
Wayne Hatfield wrote:
Hi Folks,
Is there any top or lower bearing on a mirage 27 rudder? There seem to
be some excess up and down play on the rudder shaft of my boat. I looked
in the rudder shaft tube and under the plate where expected to find a
top bearing and there was nothing. I checked a friends Mirage 27 and it
appeared the same but he did have a plastic spacer/slider under the
piece that connects the tiller to the rudder shaft . Perhaps all I need
to do is replace this spacer.
Many Thanks,
Wayne
Mirage 27 "The Loon"