Sport 40 rudder length

[Ken Webb]

How long should my rudder be on a sport 40? Right now it's about 3" below prop. Seems to long. Thoughts.

 

[FloridaScaleBoater]

Yes that does sound long, rotate your prop till one of the tips is pointing down, measure down about 3/4" below that tip, and you should be close

 

[Ken Webb]

ThaNK YOU I thought it was way to long. Time to hack away.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

One thing to remember is that when you cut off the rudder, the angle of the bottom does make a difference. If the cut is angled downward toward the back of the blade, it will normally lift the rear of boat. IF I remember right, having the cut angle up has an effect as well but I don't remember exactly what it is :huh:

 

[FloridaScaleBoater]

90* to the back of the blade is,, in my opinion, what you need to do!

 

[Eric Bourlet]

Either sharpen the bottom or simply cut the bottom off so that the back is a little higher than the front to keep it from trying to ride up on the rudder. I can measure mine when I get home but don't make it too short. Remember the prop rides on the surface of the water and in rough conditions you don't want the boat to bounce and ventilate the rudder. It's better to be a little long than short enough that the rudder unhooks in a rough corner. More important than being a little long is that if you are using a wedge rudder that the entire trailing edge not have any round corners the corners need to be sharp you want the water to part and not Bernoulli around the trailing edge of the rudder.