Three years ago I cut across the rudder post below the deck, had a machine shop cut a keyway in the rudder stock and attached an arm from Edson (big and heavy but very strong). Both the ram and the rudder angle sensor are attached to the arm. I used a seal from a trailer wheel bearing to seal the lower segment of the tube. It is fastened to the top of the lower segment of the rudder tube with self amalgamating tape. So far I have not had leaks and this part of my autopilot installation has been fine.

My ram is mounted to the undersurface of the deck. The motor powering the ram sits on the inside of the hull attached to the bulkhead at the aft end of the pipe berth.

As a test we used the autopilot for days during the Pacific Cup this summer without problems. I will try to put pictures of this installation on the website.

Terry