My kickup never had a strut. It's a pretty simple model. Since I sail solo a lot I'd like to not worry about having to wrestle the blade back down manually. It sounds as if the gas strut does the trick. Thanks for the input - always get a good response from you guys. Gary, I saw a picture of Hydeaway's rudder on the Idasailor site (I think that's where I saw it). Rick M17 #633 Lynne L GARY M HYDE <gmhyde1@mac.com> wrote:

I'd put the gas cylinder ( strut) back on the IdaSailor. Mine works great.

~~~_/)~~~ Gary Sent from my iPhone :-)

On Feb 27, 2013, at 5:08 AM, Rick Davies <jdavies104@gmail.com> wrote:

...

I'd like to poll the group on experience with the Unifoil hydraulic kickup rudder. I'm using an Idasailor kickup without the strut, and it's a bear to get back down after it partially retracts from hitting bottom, which is quite a problem when the wind's blowing. Does the Unifoil reset itself after hitting an obstacle? Or do you still have to haul it back down with the control line, like I do now? It's a big investment to make, and I'd like to be sure it's going to be an improvement over what I have now.

Thanks for any information anyone can give,

Rick M17 #633 Lynne L