Here is a shot of the rudder plates and the 2 x 10 10 gage strap added to help stiffen and support this area.

Rudder post plates

Here is the other side. It is very important to have this in a jig before welding and weld in a pattern that minimizes warpage to ensure verticle alignment.

plate attatchment

This is how I settup a spring for the down line on the rudder. By going around the top rail before hooking onto the spring, I have enough friction to keep the rudder down unless it hits something. I use a light weight line to hold the spring verticle when it is not hooked up and a shackle on the line makes for easy hookup.

spring down line

I use a 1/4 rod threaded on both ends for the motor connection. For the rudder connection I used a spring loaded quick disconnect ball joint to make it easy to disconnect when I lift the motor up for performance sailing.

motor connection

This shows the rod disconnected. Not the lightweight line and small spring that hold the rod in a position ready for reconnecting.

disconnect