Howard: the Sage 17 rudder is mahogany. gorgeous bit of wood made by John at JOWoodworks. the tiller locks the rudder in the up, or down, position by way of the bungee cord. there is no 'mechanical 'lock'. anything striking the leading edge of the rudder will cause it to move up and out of the way. i've never experienced a problem with the rudder coming up unwanted while the boat is underway (on M15 nor S17). this video may assist in seeing the rudder movement 'in action' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3x_287RdxU I agree ... makes one a bit nervous installing the stock M17 rudder in the water for worry of loosing the rod or the cotter keys to Poseidon. -- :: Dave Scobie :: former M15 owner - www.freewebs.com/m15-named-scred :: M17 #375 SWEET PEA - www.m17-375.webs.com On Fri, Apr 3, 2015 at 9:39 AM, Howard Audsley <haudsley@tranquility.net> wrote:
Is the Sage 17 rudder made of wood, glass or composite?
If wood, does it need to be weighted to overcome the buoyancy to keep it from wanting to pop up. I would think the downhaul to be more important than the need to lock it up into place. If down and released, a wooden rudder would likely pop up on its own.
One of the more interesting rodeos I've had with my M17 was trying to install the rudder with the boat in the water. Getting that pin slipped into place with the rudder wanting to go anywhere but down was a struggle.