Hopefully I'm not re-stating what is already known, so forgive me if that's the case.



On boardless boats, the theory behind adding lots of rake is that the rudders start to act like daggerboards, giving you better pointing and control. I remember seeing an old trick for 14s that used a loose rig, with a line tied to the bridle/forestay junction and run back to the tramp. For going upwind, the mainsheet would pull the rig back, giving you rake. Any time you didn't want so much rake (offwind in non-heavy conditions, or maybe before a tack) you released the main sheet and pulled on that line, raking the rig forward and keeping it from slapping around.



Keep in mind that if you have the stock molded plastic rudders rake may not help much - they're way too flexible. I'd go out on a limb and say they might even affect your ability to tack. You can deflect these things by hand significantly - just imagine what any kind of sailing load would do. If you have these and you care, get a new pair of the Hobie racing rudders, or some used EPOs or equivalent. The improvement in helm feel and sailing is worth the price, IMO. The original ones are crap, can't imagine why they even sell them.