Well im starting to get quite tired of my current rudders (hobie 16 rudders, EPO) as they are very heavy, cavitate a bit, and produce fairly large rooster tails, all in all, they feel a lot slower than the original rudders i had.

I got in touch with the Brisbane Catamaran Centre and he said he has a pair of maricat 5.0 light weight wooden rudders that are brand new in top condition for $130 per rudder. As my budget is limited this certainly sounds like a good find.

However, im hesitant about getting wooden rudders again, as my original rudders were wooden and broke on me purely from side load on them when i was reaching through waves in about 22 knots (both of them broke, not at the same time, but each on different tacks, it was the leeward rudder in each case, first one broke but didnt come off completely, so i tacked to head back in and second one broke soon after, so i gave my mate who was out with me at the time a reluctant look as i asked him to jump over board and get the 2nd rudder which snapped off completely, fortunately i managed to get back into shore by steering with sails. Hence why i got the hobie rudders because i new they would be hard to break, however they have been hurting my performance ever since, feels like im dragging pair of small sea anchors behind the boat).

Anyway, russ from BCC said the rudders are very similar in design to taipan rudders and are in his words, in superb condition. but they dont have any fibreglassing etc on them ,so i am a little concerned as how well they will hold.

Any thoughts? Do they sound ok? Anyone know of any better second hand rudders for sale?

Regards.
Michael.