Hi Gardner,
The new rudders on BD are about 8 metres apart.(15m
lw hull)
The old ones are 1.8 metres further
apart.
For precise and easy steering I would say the
closer the rudder is to the stern the better.
Robs idea was to combine functions of rudder
and daggerboard in one big rudder blade.
For my taste steering is affected too much by
placing the rudders too close together.
Too close here means placed on the beams 8m
apart.
The boom doesn't seems that complicated. It's not
difficult to build, it just takes more time
than you would expect. There are panels for the
sides and bottom. Carbon flanges along the upper edges,
carbon in the lower edges. Couple of bulkheads,
boom attachment to the mast. And don't forget sorting out
the rigging details, that takes a lot of time if
you want to do it right the first time.
You should keep in mind that since I built this for
a client it had to work right away.
If you are building your own boat and are
comfortable to start sailing and add stuff as you go along, or change
things,
that may get you on the water sooner. In the end
you probably will have taken more time to get it right,
but it doesn't feel like it as jobs were spread out
over a longer period of time.
Rudolf
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