Rudder that does not quite fit: bad thing?

There is a 1-2 cm gap between bottom of boat and top of rudder. My replacement rudder fits fine, except the shaft is a little too long. I added washers below the yoke and have run out of room in the compartment (top of shaft almost hits the cover). This is fine, but leaves a small part of the shaft exposed under the ski. Assuming I do not hit something with rudder that might push shaft through the cover, is there anything wrong with having 1-2cm of exposed shaft under the boat? Will the (surf) rudder still function properly? Thanks

It will catch weeds, get the right rudder.

I also have a not quite fitting rudder as a result of trimming a non standard one to shape and the top surface being, ahem, not quite straight. I assume this increases turbulence and hence drag from the surfaces between the top of the rudder and the bottom of the boat. As the distance is 5mm or less, and it's for my bad weather boat, I haven't noticed any difference. I presume 1-2 cm will be more significant and you would probably notice it going flat out on your elite boat. Also theoretically, the rudder is now effectively longer, which means it will add to your stability in a straight line, but will make the boat more sensitive on sharp turns, especially turning across current. Again, I don't know how noticeable this will be.

Kayaker Greg, I sure wish I could "get the right rudder." I want a 9" elliptical surf rudder (very popular these days, apparently) to fit my incredibly common (but older) Fenn XT, but...
1) I have to have a 5" shaft length, no more, no less. No manufacturer seems to have that exact length.
2) Shaft has to have square portion to hold yoke.
3) The square must be front facing. Stellar has square, but the corner faces forward (diamond shaped). Think has round shaft with shaved flat back, Huki has hectagon shape...
4) Epic shaft is supposedly 3/8" diameter, Think is 1/4", Stellar is ~9/32", and I need ~5/16" diameter.

My goodness, how many variables does a rudder shaft need?? Not the rudder itself, just the darn shaft. How much money do you think I've wasted trying to get the right one?? We need more uniformity amongst manufacturers on something this unimportant to performance (how the top of the shaft looks). Unfortunately, I am not in hot-bed of custom rudder makers, either (S.E. USA).

If the shaft is solid, you could probably take it to a local machine shop and have it cut down, and the proper interface machined in. I made a shaft similar to what you're describing, and it only took a couple hours to make in a home shop... Maybe not the cheapest option, but it'll get done right.

Maybe just have a shaft made that you could epoxy into your rudder after drilling out the old one?

I'm in Seattle and can make a rudder for your Fenn XT. Get in touch directly if you're interested.

Don
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I have modified a couple of rudders/shafts. The square drive is problematic so I use Epic yoke clamps which use a drive pin.
Just need to drill a hole rather than machine.
I did, however, have to machine a brass bush to allow the Epic rudder bar to clamp on the Stellar shaft