Budd Inlet and Lake Samish Races

I've had the boat at two Sound Rowers races since replacing the fixed strut with the steerable strut. The dipping rudders have remained in place for both races, but were used very infrequently - and then mostly as a test to see how well they performed.

At Budd I found that maneuvering around in the marina area the strut rudder performed quite well, even at very low speeds such as while docking. The dipping rudders were still next to worthless, though when I wanted to turn more quickly than the strut permitted they did help a little.

The Budd race otherwise showed that the strut rudder worked well even in 1 to nearly 2 foot chop. There were very few times when the propeller aerated with the rudder at full turn. It worked quite well to counteract weather cocking when heading into or to slightly to either side of a 15 knot headwind and the waves it produced.

My stats from the Budd Inlet race.


The Lake Samish race was quite flat with only a light breeze for cooling. Surprisingly, at this race turning the rudder to the limits caused aeration of the propeller. Perhaps the difference between salt and fresh water density made the difference. Otherwise, the only other variable I can think of is that somewhere along the course some filamentous weeds managed to wrap themselves around the propeller shaft and hub.

The dipping rudders were used only a couple of times; i.e., at each of the turn buoys. I didn't notice any difference with the changed starboard rudder angle, except that perhaps it didn't drag so much or turn as well.

Otherwise, the boat handled well at both events and was quite popular among the people present. It made the Bellingham Herald newspaper at the Lake Samish race (photo) and an interview, though the part about where the design came from didn't make it to the article. My apologies, Rick, but the press doesn't always tell the full story!

At any rate, it appears that this year's race was a personal best, and possibly a pedal boating record for the course with a time of 49:52 for 5.5 miles distance. Of course, taking some 900+ photos (edited down to 880), made the race a bit slower than otherwise one could go, and the reverse course was not as short as that traveled by the other competitors. However, this was about the same as for years when I pedaled the Cadence, taking photos as well - though with an easier to use camera.

My stats from the Lake Samish race.


As an aside, at the Bainbridge Island Marathon where I did the half marathon and completely bonked - I still ended up with a new class record with a time of 2:05:59! Hurray!