Greetings Iwona!
The Commodore and I are enjoying a new-to-us P-40. I joined PY.org last evening because of your observation that P-40 types seem underrepresented here. ;-)
s/v ELIZABETH has the Mark II rudder. We've not yet tested everything in a big following sea of the type that apparently made the original rudder so exciting so I can't (yet) really speak to performance in that situation. However the immediately previous owner was wonderfully disciplined with keeping records and receipts -- next trip to the boat I will dive in and see what Mk II Rudder documentation I can find to share.
FWIW, we trucked ELIZABETH straight to a shipyard for refit. Importantly, we pulled the chainplates and replaced with new (locally fabricated) parts. That "may" have been unnecessary and the whole rig probably had a lot of good service left in it BUT there was just enough corrosion that I'm satisfied with the money and time spent. (As you may know, stainless steel dislikes a damp, salty, ANAEROBIC environment such as where the chainplate is encapsulated by the fiberglass deck.) Also, the plate (shoe?) upon which the mast is stepped (atop the keel, in the bilge) is mild steel and was horribly corroded. We had a new plate fabricated in aluminum which has removed the dissimilar metals challenge with the mast. (While this has nothing to do with the rudder it made an impression on me and I feel compelled to share.)
More later.... Thanks for the nudge to come out of the P-40 shadows.
David
