I put a rudder on my first boat. I was new to boating and new to jets. I really thought it would help with low speed. It did, I guess...but I still took it off.

Then when I got my tunnel, I thought I'd need one. So I put the rudder I had left over on it. I took it off at the end of the day.


Bottom line for me: they do make a difference, but it's not night and day. It was helpful when I was first learning - kind of like training wheels. Once I got "done" with the tunnel, I tried it again to test. It cost me 3 mph on the top end.