I just installed my rudder 2 hours ago. I contemplated taking some fiberglass out of the top inside of the skeg, but we decided not to. It might have limited the "float." I can lift the rudder up 1/4" or so . . . maybe 3/8" . . . until the delrin washer I put on the top of the rudder (which wasn't there) stops it against the hull extension. I think it's a dumb design, and there really is nothing inside the boat holding the rudder except a set screw on the quadrant. The pintle bushing, when in the water, seems to be just a capture mechanism, not a weight bearing unit. I have bolts into the rudder post for my Raytheon autopilot, so it can't just drop out (which it wouldn't without a major failure of the pintle bolts), but that had nothing to do with Tartan. So yeah, it floats up, and there needs to be some form of "washer" on the rudderpost between the rudder and the hull to prevent it from binding against the hull. Four bolts on the pintle plate, and on the hard they are carrying the weight of the rudder and the quadrant. Not well thought out. But I've got her back up to speed. I'll make it work.
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