Hi Ted, I bought a Ruddercraft Unifoil kickup rudder for my M17 this spring, and so far have nothing but good to say about it. It's solidly built and easy to raise and lower. The hydraulic spring piston holds it down, and, after hitting an obstruction (like the bottom), it returns to vertical by itself. It replaced an older manual IdaSailer rudder, and there's no comparison. Ruddercraft is also a good company to do business with. Are you putting it on an M17? Rick M17 #633 Lynne L On Tuesday, June 18, 2013, Theodore Weidenbach wrote:

HI all,

I am considering buying an IDA rudder. Is it worth it? I feel like my rudder assembly is weak and bends and twists, doesn't feel very strong. Would you consider the IDA (ruddercraft) rudder to be better?

Any suggestions and opinions are welcome! Thanks, ted

Ted: my guess, as i can't remember from your prior posts, is you have an M15 ... and the old M17 rudders are one piece are one solid piece of mahogany. i'm guessing that your rudder compression posts need to be tightened just a bit. if the cheeks are just a bit too loose if feels as if the rudder and/or tiller is bending. what is really happen is there is just a little slop between the three components (tiller, cheeks, rudder). turn all the bolts about 1/16th of a turn and see if this helps. if not enough turn another 1/16th. tighten so the tiller can still raise/lower the rudder. this will better compress the cheeks and make the tiller-to-rudder connection more firm. :: Dave Scobie :: former M15 owner - www.freewebs.com/m15-named-scred :: M17 #375 SWEET PEA - www.m17-375.webs.com --- On Tue, 6/18/13, Theodore Weidenbach <weid0069@umn.edu> wrote:

HI all,

I am considering buying an IDA rudder.  Is it worth it?  I feel like my rudder assembly is weak and bends and twists, doesn't feel very strong. Would you consider the IDA (ruddercraft) rudder to be better?

Any suggestions and opinions are welcome! Thanks, ted