Rudders for boats, particularly for pleasure boats

A boat rudder comprising:

• a rudder-blade hinged, in its upper part, to a substantially horizontal pin carried by a rudder-blade support, itself hinged about a substantially vertical pin, situated at the rear of the boat and carried by gudgeons fixed on this boat;
• a bar fixed to a bar support, the rear part of this bar support being hinged to a substantially horizontal pin provided at the upper part of the rudder-blade;
• a locking device for jamming the bar support in relation to the rudder-blade support, in a lower position of the rudder-blade corresponding to the normal working position, this locking device comprising a stop member, carried by the bar support, spaced longitudinally from the pin hinging the bar on the rudder-blade, said stop member being adapted to cooperate with a jamming member carried by the rudder blade support, the assembly of the stop member and the jamming member being arranged so as to ensure automatic unlocking of the bar support in relation to the rudder-blade support when the stress exerted on the rudder-blade exceeds a given limit greater than the stresses likely to be exerted on the rudder-blade during normal sailing,
• characterised by the fact that it is provided with a balancing adjustment device comprising:
• means for adjusting the normal working position of the rudder-blade with respect to the rudder-blade support so that the ratio of the areas of the rudder blade situated respectively in front and behind the hinge pin of the rudder-blade support (or its extension) may be adjusted;
• and longitudinal displacement means for varying the distance between said stop member and the pin for hingeing the bar support on the rudder-blade, so as to set the locking in accordance with the position of the rudder-blade determined by the above adjustment means.