Rudder re-build

[Mav58]

My 1958 45' wooden ketch has always been a dog to steer and I often think I should improve the shape of the rudder and possibly increase the size. Firstly I plan to delve into Skene's Elements of Yacht Design, brush up on a little L. Francis H and maybe refer to Joel White's writings but I would also be grateful for the opinions and experiences of the forum members. The existing rudder is essentially a slab of wood with post at the leading edge. Area is around 13 sq ft which by my preliminary reckoning is about 3 short. Not a big job to add pieces of material to each side to produce a foil shape and maybe glass over. Any thoughts?

[Zindab]

Be careful as I have just learn t myself the distance from the front of the rudder to center of post is critical it seems that around 80mm from front to center of rudder post is ideal for most situations if this is increased it makes it harder to steer, found out when buying Auto Helm ,when it increased over 80mm the drive pump nearly doubled in size and price.