The photos I posted last week show that the leading edge of the rudder is forward of vertical when in the "locked down" position, in accordance with Stan's instructions. The photo may be deceptive because of the counter of the transom. Page 19 of the Rhodes Manual states "With the rudder blade down and slightly forward (as far as it can possibly go), The tiller has such a light "power steering" touch, there is a tendency..  to over steer." Joe DempseyS/V RespiteDeltaville, VASent via the Samsung Galaxy S22 5G, an AT&T 5G smartphone

-------- Original message --------From: Mary Lou Troy <mtroy at atlanticbb.net> Date: 12/4/22  10:15 AM  (GMT-05:00) To: The Rhodes 22 Email List <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Curved Rudder | 84 Rhodes 22 I have not been following this discussion closely and I am relying on memory here so take these statements with a grain of salt.When we purchased Fretless (recycled) in 1998 we had a number of discussions with Stan about rigging, helm and the rudder. He was quite clear that the proper position for the rudder underway was pulled forward of vertical so it was somewhat under the hull. Fred and I both remember the boat as being somewhat sluggish and less responsive if the rudder was not pulled far enough forward. Helm was also affected by the position of the rudder.I'll keep an eye out the results of your testing as I suppose it is indeed possible to have it too far forward if the fittings have changed but Stan set up our boat and we always pulled it as far forward as it would go.When doing your tests, make sure all the other variables are the same - for example the boat is very affected, usually positively, by weight in the bow. As our water tank was nearly centerline, we usually had it filled more than half way.All our best,Mary Lou (and Fred)ex Rhodes 22now Rosborough RF-246  TaraRock Hall, MDOn 12/4/2022 9:34 AM, Chris on LBI wrote:> I was able to take a look at the rudder yesterday. In hindsight, I > can't believe that it took me 5 full seasons of sailing to recognize > that this was a potential problem. Attached are three photos. The > first gives a sense of how far the rudder swings under the hull when > the down-haul is used to pull the rudder against the "stop". In the > second photo I have placed a white piece of plastic vertically to make > more obvious how much past vertical the rudder is when it is against > the stop. The forward edge of the white plastic is parallel with the > forward edge of the rudder head. The third photo shows the "stop" > which is the forward side of the rudder head (as Roger stated).>> As Roger predicted in his previous email, it appears that the > mechanical variations of this particular rudder and rudder head allow > the rudder to rotate too far forward. As he suggested, I will > experiment with a shim to correct this. If this does not work out > easily, I will place a mark on the up-haul so that I know how far to > deploy it to keep the rudder from over-rotating, and then tension the > down-haul against it.>> Chris> -------------- next part --------------> A non-text attachment was scrubbed...> Name: IMG_4808.jpg> Type: image/jpeg> Size: 77096 bytes> Desc: not available> URL: > <http://rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20221204/7aab683b/attachment.jpg>> -------------- next part --------------> A non-text attachment was scrubbed...> Name: IMG_4810.jpg> Type: image/jpeg> Size: 65366 bytes> Desc: not available> URL: > <http://rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20221204/7aab683b/attachment-0001.jpg>> -------------- next part --------------> A non-text attachment was scrubbed...> Name: IMG_4811.jpg> Type: image/jpeg> Size: 81121 bytes> Desc: not available> URL: > <http://rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20221204/7aab683b/attachment-0002.jpg>