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I had heard that, too, and repeated it to Norm New Orleans. If I remember correctly, Norm observed that, with the well-known propensity of the Nimbles to gudgeon-pintle weakness, there would be risk adding that much extra weight to the load. Further, he asked, "what would you grab onto?" The bumpkin is not really designed for the extra load that would be put on it by someone in the water attempting to board the stern of the boat, nor is the tiller assembly.
So, I have concluded that the notch developed as a kind of design flair(???).
What I wonder about is this: it creates the optical effect of looking much stouter than the non-notch rudder upright. Was the design change in any way related to the gudgeon-pintle issue, or just cosmetic?
Stephen
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