rudder length .... get ya tape measure out !!

bit of confusion.....

Twice Shy's rudders measure 23inches from the bottom of the transom to the bottom of the blade.....

Jurassic Karp's rudders measure 25inches from the bottom of the transom to the bottom of the blade.....

I've been given a pair of blades that measure 19inches from the bottom of the transom to the bottom of the blade.....

the actual width of the blades is very similar at the widest point (maybe 1/4inch variation over the 8inch width) and the blade shapes are reasonably close with the older timber blades with Karp's blades being much squarer at the bottom

So aside from the slight variations in the shape at the bottom and the tiny variation in the widths of the blades, the actual length seems to be quite a large variation ......
6inches difference from the shortest to the longest seems quite a huge amount <img src="<>/eek.gif" alt="eek" title="eek" height="15" width="15" />

After breaking one of Shy's blades recently I was lucky enough to be given 2 old timber blades (19inch blades) and a blade from a monohull (fireball dagger style)..... after a cut n dice and some glasswork to beef it up I now have a reasonably matched pair of rudders and the 2nd set which seem really short to me...

hence the question.....

just what is a 'good length' for a rudder ???

<img src="<>/confused.gif" alt="confused" title="confused" height="15" width="15" />

On my first mozzie (245) I had long narrow rudders, these were later replaced with much shorter but far wider boards.... from memory the original boards were similar to Shy's current rudders and would have been around that 23inch mark, my dad made a set that were around 20inches long but the actual width was up around 12inches compared to the 8inch blades I have now

At the time the new wide blades were supposed to assist when locked in irons and from memory they worked a treat compared to the first set (245 was an absolute bytch at tacking and locking in irons was a common event if you wernt careful)

so....

whats a 'reasonable length' ?
&
whats an 'acceptable width' ?

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