Went out today, was blowing a steady 15, lumpy but no real big white caps.
boat went well, we gave it a real hiding to see what it would do and also checked out its pointing abilities.

nothing broke which was a bonus.

attached a speed pic from the gps. got up to 5.9 knots at a few stages but i rounded up cause im a girl sometimes, and the rigging and gear is old as the hills.

things i don't like...rudder response (pretty crap)......gotta drive the boat around the corner at full speed or it doesn't wanna go about. When running...the following seas make the boat wanna turn too much. think i better glass a foot long extension on the bottom of the rudder or something. Its not a sports boat of course but its interesting to fiddle with.

so...we get back to manly and my dad goes..."did you screw those rubber gunwales on?"...Nope. both gone. ooops. lol better get to whitworths!!

Brizzydave,

I would probably look at a few other things before using the last resort as the first option......Warwick Hood probably knew his onions when he designed the Hood23 and sized the rudder to suit. Having said that Ive only sailed a Hood 23 the once so I'm not all knowing on the design.

Things like how the weight is distributed in the boat and sail trim can make a big difference to the steering in a little boat. I notice an immediate difference to the helm when I get a few people sitting near the transom on our 20fter.

If its been a while since the antifoul then thats something else to consider.

Having said all that I took the angle grinder to my swing rudder blade to re-balance things and put some more wetted area infront of the pintles to reduce the load on the helm, which has worked out well. The tinkering can be satisfying when it works.....

Use to sail Adventure 7 and now Aquarius 23, both experience sluggish rudder when overpowered.
If, in tight situation to tack, I push the button to star the engine.
I don't think it's design problem, just too much sails.

This is simple with an outboard, like mine set up.
Hold the tiller strait and adjust the outboard until the boat goes strait.
I'll do it nearly every time.
If you have outboard, ask See breeze experten, I wouldn't know.