Well, I have the AHPC setup myself (from) Aus. And shipping/paying internationally was not a problem for me. And of course back in 2003 I payed halve the amount they are charging now. No amount of VAT could make that deal unattractive. Additionally, you can ask the non-european supplier to deduct his local taxes from the product.

I don't know what to think of this German setup. I do know that a well made rod system will keep your rudders down. The trick to a well made rod system is that the pin has a rounded tip that falls into hole made in a stainless steel plate. And it has to have a sufficiently long handle (beyond the pin). Stainless steel is extremely wear resistant so it won't wear out in use. Also the rounded tip to the little pin will make the pin drop into the hole even if you misaligned the pin. What I do is put the pin on the stainless steel plate and then wiggle my hand a little bit and it'll drop in. I don't even look anymore. I'm quite handy at it now. The long handle (about 100 mm) you need so that if you press down the rod is bend into a curve making the pin slide in easily into the hole which then allows the rod to straighten out and tuck the rudder well under. These three things make engaging the system really easy.

Diengaging is done by lifting the rod by pulling on its middle section. The rod will bend and the pin will pop out.

I think www.catamaranparts.nl makes really nice stocks. Light, simple, stiff and not too expensive. They are made of aluminium square tube and can be left out in the sun without degrading. They do sometime skim on the rod setup which can make engaging the system needlessly more difficult, so I would place an order with the demand to satisfy the above key points.

I think I would recommend www.catamaranparts.nl to you. The fact that you can keep your old rudder boards will seriously cut down on cost. You can even send in your old rudder boards and have them rebuild your setup.

I will place some details pics of my setup on this forum over the next couple of days. The rod system I got now (AHPC) is by far the best I have ever seen and works perfectly.

Matt, www.catamaranparts.nl is run by a fellow member of the catamaran sailing club where I sail, so I know the guy personally and I know his work first hand. He even reads thsi forum so I probably get flamed for the next comment. I will say that his boards and stocks are excellent but that my rod setup is better then his standard rod version. But my rod setup can simply be used on his stocks and boards without any significant modification. So if I were to order a new setup from him (and this a serious possibility in the future) then I would demand he made the rod system to the specs I give him.

So that is it. The die has been cast.

Wouter