Patent ID: 8577523

Claim:
A method of verifying a toe angle of at least one port rudder ( 1 ) and at least one starboard rudder ( 2 ) of a ship which are both electronically adjustable via a control device, the method comprising the steps of: measuring a toe angle, for each of the at least one port rudder ( 1 ) and the at least one starboard rudder ( 2 ), as a deviation from a 0° steering angle, determining a required energy consumption of a dedicated electric actuator of each of the at least one port rudder ( 1 ) and the at least one starboard rudder ( 2 ) over a predetermined time, during which time each respective toe angle of the rudders ( 1 , 2 ) is discretely and incrementally adjusted over a range of angles deviating from the 0° steering angle to obtain a measurement of hydrodynamic forces occurring at each of the incremental toe angles such that a real time determination of a toe angle, having a lowest energy consumption, is enabled, and defining an optimal toe angle for each of the at least one port rudder ( 1 ) and the at least one starboard rudder ( 2 ) as the toe angle having the lowest energy consumption.