"all thumbs" wrote in message
...
I'm wondering if I have the quadrant set up right. At full stop on the
quadrant, looking at the rudder shows it's only turned about 45
degrees. Is this correct? Is that some theoretical limit of effective
angle or something? Thanks.

As long as the swing is the same both ways 45 degrees is fine IMHO. Make
sure the travel is smooth, with no binding. I'd only use 'max rudder' for
slow speed maneuvering at low power settings. 45 degrees is a lot of rudder
swing (depending on the vessel).

Is that some theoretical limit of effective.
Not really. A lot of boats don't have that much rudder swing. You may need
ALL of that for some 'backing down' situations when you're trying to
overcome the 'sidewash' of the prop. In reverse the transom always favors
one side (sometimes a LOT). It's better to have more swing than you need.