riverman wrote:

So lets toss that around here, too.....just why ARE the rudders on the back
of boats?

A rudder is basically a brake. If you apply the brake on the front of
your boat, the front stops while the back keeps moving. This can make
for a wild uncontrolled spin-out.

OTOH, If you apply the brakes on the rear, your craft tends to be
stable. It's that simple.

Anyone ever experimented with a front-rudder?

I regularly sail backwards to get away from the dock, which is kind of
like having a rudder on the front. Leading with the rudder is
inherently unstable, although with a bit of practice it's no big deal.
The problem is once the boat turns a certain amount in the wrong
direction, no amount of steering will correct the problem - the boat
just continues to pivot about the rudder until you've done a full 180.

A related question: Why are darts designed with the heavy part in the
front and the feathers in the back?

-Walt