[billyruffn]

Billy Ruff'n has a fin keel and spade rudder. The hard things we've hit struck the keel first and, fortunately, never damaged the rudder. We have had lobster pot warps get fouled up in the small slot at the top of leading edge of the rudder. That probably wouldn't have happened with a skeg hung rudder. If I had built the boat (I'm owner #2), I'd probably ask for a skeg rudder. It wouldn't turn as quickly, but I'd sleep better offshore.

I thing the real risk with a spade rudder is that it breaks off or falls out of the boat. This risk is mitigated with good engineering and design and robust construction, but it's real. I met a couple that lost their rudder 300 miles offshore -- shaft broke, rudder went south, water started coming in. They stopped the leaks but eventually lost the boat. After three days of working the problem in 15 ft seas and really strong trade winds the dog had gone crazy and the wife was not far behind and the skipper (a retired Coast Guard master chief) gave up. They were taken off by the a Columbian tug boat and had to scuttle the boat. Their insurance company sued the builder, in the process discovered lots of other problems with rudders on that model that hadn't been adequately resolved, and recovered the loss. Might have been different with a skeg hung rudder????

P.S. Actually, I sleep pretty well offshore -- the rudder stock is a solid 4" diameter bar of stainless steel with two 5/8 through bolts holding various things in place, where it penetrates the hull the structure is very beefy, two quatrants bolted to the stock. The rudder isn't going anywhere.