Rudder rubbing on hull when turning to port
Printed From: myHanse.com
Category: Hints & Tips
Forum Name: 415/418
Forum Description: 415/418 Hints, Tips and News
URL: https://www.myhanse.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=15450
Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 23:37
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Topic: Rudder rubbing on hull when turning to port
Posted By: spam
Subject: Rudder rubbing on hull when turning to port
Date Posted: 22 November 2025 at 22:09
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I recently noticed that the top of the rudder is rubbing the hull when turning all the way to port, but not when turning to starboard. Centered clearance is small (about 1–2 mm), and when turning all the way to starboard the gap still looks around 1–2 mm. Before dropping the rudder, I’m trying to understand whether this is a bear bearing alignment / seating issue , thrust washer compression/settling issue, or something else Anyone seen this before? Any advice on likely causes or fixes?
Harold |
Replies:
Posted By: redlion
Date Posted: 23 November 2025 at 10:15
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I would contact Jefa. They are usually very responsive. ------------- It,s not over till the fat lady drowns |
Posted By: Ian Coverdale
Date Posted: 23 November 2025 at 12:10
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Your 415 has pretty much same system as our 445. There is no alignment adjustment on our boat ... just relies on Hanse building the boat right. There are two PTFE spacers of ~10mm thickness on the stock between blade and hull to keep keel low enough to avoid blade/hull contact. There is also an end-stop mechanism on the quadrant to prevent the rudder pivoting too far, be worth checking this is working properly. If these look okay, maybe worth looking to see if there is another 415 on the hard you can look at. At most serious end of the scale, you may be looking at something like a bent stock. Is it possible the rudder could have impacted or snagged something? ------------- Ian & Andrea SV Gabrielle (H445) Liveaboards - currently Montenegro. www.facebook.com/sailinggabrielle |
Posted By: spam
Date Posted: 23 November 2025 at 15:36
| Contacted Jefa as well to indeed ask them for advice. Have not heard back from them yet. |
Posted By: spam
Date Posted: 23 November 2025 at 16:00
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I don’t recall any impact, but there is some antifouling rubbed off on the lower part of the rudder (see picture). It doesn’t look severe enough for the kind of force I’d expect would be needed to bend the stock. It’s also on the port side, which seems inconsistent with the type of deformation that would cause rubbing on that same side. I would have expected an impact on the starboard side to result in rubbing on the port side. I’ll check it with a laser level to see if there is any indication of bending. Your point about the stops is interesting—I actually didn’t check whether they are symmetric. It’s possible I simply have more travel to one side. I’ll verify that as well. I was also wondering about the PTFE spacers. The clearance between my rudder and the hull seems very small even when centered. I’d be interested to know what the typical clearance is on other Hanses. As you noted, they all have very similar setups. If anyone knows the top-of-rudder–to–hull clearance on their boat, I would appreciate hearing it.  |
Posted By: marsella
Date Posted: 23 November 2025 at 16:43
I think that clearance is about finger thick on my 458, definitely not 1-2mm
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Posted By: Ian Coverdale
Date Posted: 23 November 2025 at 17:31
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Interesting. Suggest if you conclude impact may have caused some damage, involving your insurance company at earliest opportunity. They will appoint a surveyor and take it from there. I read in an Orca forum somewhere that new Jefa rudders are made to order and on very long lead-times. I hope your problem is something a lot easier to deal with this. Talking to my wife here about clearance, recalling how easy (difficult) it is to get a scrapper in to remove growth etc during haulout, we are guessing there is something like 40-60mm of gap at the aft end, rudder centred. This is for a Hanse 445. We've looked through our extensive archive of photographs but none show this very well. ------------- Ian & Andrea SV Gabrielle (H445) Liveaboards - currently Montenegro. www.facebook.com/sailinggabrielle |
Posted By: spam
Date Posted: 23 November 2025 at 20:41
| Very helpful. Thanks for sharing |
Posted By: spam
Date Posted: 23 November 2025 at 20:43
| 40-60mm is a lot more than I have even when centered. Thank you for looking for pictures. Very much appreciated. |
Posted By: High Time
Date Posted: 27 November 2025 at 15:38
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Looking at a photo of my 2012 415 rudder I estimate the clearance at the rudder shaft to be approx. 20mm. My rudder does not touch the hull on full lock either way although it does get close. My autopilot control indicates that it's full lock either way is 33 degrees and this is a few degrees short of the stops. I can't easily post the picture as it's 3MB and I don't have any suitable editing software to reduce the size to <500KB.  ------------- Roger High Time (415 #038) |
Posted By: spam
Date Posted: 28 November 2025 at 15:27
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Hi Roger, This is very helpful. It really sounds like my clearance is just too little to start with. I will try to take some better pictures myself and post them so it is easier to compare. I sent you a direct message with my email address. If you could share yours, that would be very appreciated. As an update, I also communicated with Jefa. Their advise was to drop the rudder, the recommend doing this anyway every three years, check bearings and in particular the Delrin trust washer. They referred to Hanse for the recommended clearance. Harold S/V Ventus Hanse 415/#314
PS: the 500KB limitation on pictures feels indeed a bit "out of date". I used microsoft paint to reduce the sizes |
Posted By: High Time
Date Posted: 28 November 2025 at 16:07
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Hi Harald PM sent by email which will give you my address and the requested photo. High Time is 13 years old and the rudder has never been dropped. The steering is still finger light so I leave well alone. I figure if something is wearing (bearings, washer etc) it will give me fair warning before it fails completely. I do check/adjust the cables etc. regularly as their failure could be catastrophic and without any warning. ------------- Roger High Time (415 #038) |
Posted By: spam
Date Posted: 07 January 2026 at 02:12
| Quick update, dropped the rudder, inserted the Delrin washer recommended by Jefa and after reassembly, checked for plumbness by seeing if there was any movement in the bottom of the rudder, underneath the end of the rudder stock, moving when the rudder was turned over from port to starboard. None was observed so things seem okay now. |
Posted By: ThomasYde
Date Posted: 25 January 2026 at 12:00
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Hi, On my 385 the rudder is also rubbing against the hull. I think it is similar to your problem. Did you find a solution and did you hear from JEFA? Thanks.  ------------- Thomas Yde Hanse 385 Denmark |
Posted By: Yoda
Date Posted: 25 January 2026 at 20:58
When I purchased Ruby, my Hanse 370, she had just been fitted with a brand new rudder. The clearance was almost nil at the hard to port and starboard position. The solution was to remove the spacer immediately below the tiller arm and have a few mm skimmed off. This allowed the rudder to drop down and create the necessary clearance.  |
Posted By: spam
Date Posted: 28 January 2026 at 03:02
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Hi Thomas Yde, Jefa suggested installing a Delrin washer, specifically either Since this was faster and easier, my yard instead purchased a sheet of Delrin and machined one themselves. You do need to drop the rudder to install it, but this was actually quite straightforward. After installation, we could not detect any meaningful asymmetry. There is likely some minor asymmetry in the hull or shaft, but it is so small that it does not really matter and only becomes noticeable when the rudder has no clearance. I hope this helps. Best regards, |