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Old 05-02-2011 | 12:04 PM
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Hydro Junkie
 
Joined: Nov 2004
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From: Marysville, WA
Default RE: inline rudder vs duals vs right side

Not sure if this is your first boat or not, but there are several things to look at when picking out hardware. I'll try to touch on a few and let others chime in later. Since as a general rule all vee hulls balance at between 30 and 33% of hull length from the transom, you can consider this as a given when reading further.
1) Dual Rudder:
This set up is the heaviest of all. What the extra weight does is make balancing the boat more problematic as you will need to move the engine and/or radio box and it's contents forward to offset that extra weight. This could affect how the cowl fits over the engine and how easy it is to use a pull starter, if equipped. As far as handling, it's not much of an improvement over a centerline rudder and will slow the boat due to the weight and the added drag of the second rudder.
2) Single Centerline Rudder:
This set up elinminates roughly half the drag and weight of the twin rudder set up, allowing the engine and radio to be placed further aft. What it also does, depending on hardware chosen, is lets you mount a stinger to the rudder bracket for easier adjusting. This set up will generally give you good turning ability either way, not counting any prop walk tendancies. The only drawbacks to this is that you would probably have to remove the rudder to pull the drive shaft for maintenance and your top speed could be slightly less than having the rudder on the right.
3) Right Side Rudder:
This is a variation of the centerline configuration, with two significant differences; the rudder doesn't have to be removed to pull the drive shaft and the boat will generally turn better right than left due to the rudder being deeper in the water in a right turn. While you can use this set up for fun running, it's the preferred set up for racing as the boats almost always turn right.
There's my take on it. I'm sure others will have varying opinions on the subject as well and may disagree with me, which is fine too