third world. Sure, in Maine there will be lots of people that can build a rudder well. This was in the Cape Verdes. An economically depressed country where few yachts visit and no yachts are built. You write about proper welding techniques in a place where stick welding is high tech and stainless fabrication is probably non-existent.

No, it is not science, it is engineering and the stresses are significant and must be engineered for.

He should have had a rudder built in the USA and air freighted in. But he was probably in a hurry to complete his passage and that would have taken several weeks.

As to the armchair sailors who say that they could sail rudderless - MAYBE YES, MAYBE NO. I wouldn't voluntarily try. And the first responsibility of a captain is the safety of hes/her crew.