Stiff Steering

[Lenny and Louise]

Then Again is a 2014 model year R25SC with Garmin autopilot. The helm is very stiff when turning to stbd when the autopilot is disengaged. It started a couple months ago as an occasional tight spot, just as the rudder was turned to right from amidships. It is now a constant resistance when turning the wheel to the right. No such resistance turning the wheel to the left.

We are trailering from Portland to Olympia August 26 in order to take a leisurely trip through the Sound in route to Rendezvous. Thus there is some urgency to this. Any ideas?

 

[Andrew Custis]

Hey there Lenny!

What this is usually caused by is our offset rudder. When we install the rudder, we purposely offset in case of removal. The helm should be easy to turn both directions at idle and lower speeds.

Hope all is well!

 

[portlandtug25]

Does this occur at cruise speed or just at docking speed, or all the time? Odd that it would just start recently if, as Andrew says, it's caused by a designed-in offset of the rudder. If you remove the lid from the aft seat/storage compartment, the liner lifts out and gives access to the steering ram and rudder quadrant area. . You could check to see if there is anything physically blocking or binding the steering gear. My boat's ( R25) steering seems to require equal effort in either direction, at least I haven't noticed any difference.

 

[nzfisher]

Make sure that the attachment to the rudder from the hydraulic arm is well lubricated and moves freely. It might not be the problem but should be part of regular maintenance anyway. Good luck.

 

[linedoctor]

I had the same concern with our C28 when we went up much past 10-15 knots. I hadn't noticed the stiffness at first and thought something was wrong. It was just the offset. Now that we have an R29 we hardly ever go that fast anyway!