Anyone installed one of these performance unifoil kick up rudder assy's? Any good feedback on it's use?
H23.5 Performance Ruder
- Thread starter Examinator327
- Start date
Yes, on a Hunter 18. The lower stock rudder plastic (Delrin?) pintle fitting failed during a fast reach with spin up. Had to let go of the tiller to tame the sails and when I looked back the upper fitting had also failed and rudder and tiller were gone. Bought a replacement from Rudder Craft. They had not made one for use with stock H18 gudgeon mounts but were willing to work with the dimensional layout I provided. Fit was good and I love the kickup system. The rudder blade construction and shape was great but the trailing edge needed some trimming to overcome some rudder hum. I took the square 1/4 in. cutoff and tapered it down to 1/8 in. to fix the problem. Overall, workmanship was great including the finished tiller. The over-center gas strut mechanism is far superior to the common 2 line pull system. Just give the raised rudder a shove and it swings down slowly in a controlled manner. It kicks up easily with contact and can be set for shallow water via the uphaul line but otherwise stays down when sailing. I've had it on the boat 3 years now and overall, while pricy, it was a far superior upgrade both in performance and look over the stock setup.
