Does anyone have any experience with rudders from dotan

www.dotan.com

or can anyone reccomend any other non OEM kickup rudders (rudders not from boat makers).

Gareth

those look badass.
No pricing information though.... probably a pretty penny.

I've got a set, and used them on our 18HT during the Tybee 500. They worked extremely well launching and landing through the surf. The biggest advantage was the ability to clear weeds and trash quickly. Contact me off forum and I can supply pricing and delivery information in the US.

Mike Krantz
mikekrantz@lakelaniersailing.com
Lamorak Racing Team
Lamorak Racing

The same rudders were used on the Stiletto catamarans in the 70' and 80's. I liked them. Easy up and down except at speed. Had to use my foot at the back of the rudder to push them in and down. On the Stiletto 23's, we used bungee cords to hold them down at speed. The bungee runs from the rudder pivot bolt over the top of the rudder and back down to pivot bolt.

my 2 cents

Spinakerjohn

I have the Dotan Sampson 25s. I don't like them at all. Maybe they would be alright if you sail in an area where you never hit bottom, because they only have 3 positions. Up, down, and stuck half-way inbetween. People who've sailed Prindles probably won't care about the stuck position as they're used to leaning off the back of the boat to shove the blade down anyhow.
They'd work great on little daysailor monohulls, but I don't think they are really up to par for catamarans.
The upper gudgeon has a tendency to break. I've gone through three of them. I hope I can find another because I've got a busted one at this moment. The resulting stress wreaked havok on my transom at the lower mount and left me with some fiberglassing to do.

Performance wise they work just fine, but when I get the spare change I'm putting a Hobie system on the back of my boat. My friend has a P18-2 and tried the Dotans. He now runs a salvaged system off a H-18 with good success.

So... if anyone still wants a set, we've got a couple with little use for sale.

Grob,

Sorry can't answer the Dotan question.
However it is not that hard to make your own from carbon.
If you make the stocks to match the rudder heads and before assembling the stock lay the inner face up over a sheet of plate glass and apply the same finish to the heads of the rudders you can get very low friction between both the head and stock with absolutley no play. When you get this it is a snack to set it up so you can pop the rudders from your normal sailing position at high speed.
Works for me.