So I've been thinking about this for a while. I know that shimming the upper gudgeon is a popular modification to improve helm, but it comes with a few drawbacks. First is the need to cut an access hole in the cockpit. Second is the alignment issue which means you need to make the shim wedge shaped and also slightly wedge the lower as well. Third is the tiller sits higher which doesn't really effect anything, but it would bug me as I'm happy with it's current height. As much as I'd like to gain some improvement in the helm, it's not worth cutting holes, and I'm not willing to pony up for a Ruddercraft when mine rudder is perfectly serviceable. So while repairing some gelcote pox on my rudder blade a few weeks ago, it occurred to me that a simple mod to the blade itself (I have a kick-up) would accomplish the same thing with a lot less hassle. I haven't done it yet, but seriously considering it. It would require nothing more than a jigsaw and a bit of epoxy. Basically just cut a thin wedge off of the top of the blade (dotted lines on my drawing) and seal it up with some epoxy and a thin layer of cloth. This would allow the rudder to move slightly forward just like shimming the gudgeons but without changing anything else. What do you think, anybody see any issues with this plan?