Seeing as there's already one rudder thread running, I've been meaning to throw this one out for discussion at some point...
A few weeks ago, a group of us had a bit of a boatman's holiday (we're all crew on the Seth Ellis tripboat on the Chesterfield Canal at Retford) and hired the two dayboats from Portland Basin for a trip to Marple bottom and back. It was noticeable when we were reversing back into the moorings at Dukinfield that both day boats handled much better going astern than the Seth Ellis does and we commented as much to the marina chap (we're only talking 35-40ft boats, so astern performance is probably not as good as you'd expect with a longer boat - maybe). He reckoned it was (if I understood the diagrams and explanation properly) that it was because of the 'wings' he's welded on to the rudder which appear to stand out at 90degrees which it was reckoned helped to "contain the water better", hence the better astern performance. Is this fetid dingo's kidneys or is there any truth in it? If true, what sort of parameters could be considered to enhance performance? -- David Morris p/t skipper, Seth Ellis Trip Boat, Retford
