Rudder Angle Indicators: A Smarter Way to Dock
When maneuvering a vessel in tight quarters, the ability to have a quick visual reference of your rudder angle is very important. A collision could jeopardize the safety of your passengers and of others. It could damage your boat and your pride. Luckily for us, technology provides a solution.
A rudder angle indicator is a nautical device which monitors your rudder’s horizontal position. It is also referred to as a rudder reference gauge, rudder locator, or a rudder position sensor. We took a look at several different types of rudder angle indicators and reviewed them for you in this article.
Gravity Driven Rudder Reference Gauge
The first type we reviewed are gravity driven rudder angle locators. These simple devices attach to the center of your steering wheel and use gravity to pull a needle downward as the gauge moves in synch with the wheel. These units are inexpensive and easy to install with no cabling or drilling required.
During testing we found that these rudder locators to be inaccurate and unreliable. Any time that the boat rocks from side to side, the needle swings back and forth making it virtually useless in choppy water. On vessels with hydraulic steering, these indicators give poor reference of the rudder angle due to variances in hydraulic fluid pressure. Our Score: 3/10
Mechanical Arm Rudder AngleIndicators