Rudder upgrade

Hi zachhandler,
have you hit upon a weed shedding option for your Vega?
I did the Perth Doctor yesterday for the first time in my Flex. The runs were smoking in 25kt winds but the weed was punishing. The very upright leading edge of the Vega rudder didn’t shed effectively and a small weed deflector didn’t address this.
I notice that kai wa’a have a couple of weed rudders for their OCs but only a tiny one for the Vegas which would not suit a big DW. As mentioned the ideal solution would maintain balance, however to do so I imagine a small notch would need to be cut into the leading edge to accomodate the step in the hull just fore of the steering shaft. Anyone make one of these to your knowledge?

Dratz - i have not come up a weedless surf rudder but the places I surf the weeds are not a huge issue. I like your idea of a rudder with a notch in the front. I imagine DK could make one. Of course then you might need to place a weedguard on the hull to protect the new rudder gap. Do you have any idea what the pros were using for rudders in the doctor?

Dratz, I've had pretty good luck with a DK 8 inch 30 degree rudder in the surf on my Flex. It doesn't work all that well in flat water at shedding weeds, but once it gets decent sized it works pretty well. As a last resort, if I feel weeds, I'll purposely do what you shouldn't do; stick the nose straight down a steep wave until I pearl, which effectively pops the rear end of the boat and rudder out of the water allowing gravity to slide the weeds off. Sometimes the wrong thing is the right thing to do.