...from my first reading of Charlie's account, what he has described as being "bent inward" I have taken to apply to the rudder's VERTICAL orientation, which of course would require some actual bending of the rudder shaft/post/stock/ or whichever term one chooses to use...

But I think I now see what you might be suggesting, that the rudder blade was instead - to use another description - simply TWISTED inward upon the shaft, but with the rudder shaft itself not having been deformed... Thinking about it now, I'll bet that's really what he meant...

In which case, your original question is certainly a valid one, as to why the blade simply could not have been re-aligned to a more centered position, that would not want to drive the boat in circles...

Too bad they didn't have a Go-Pro aboard to snap some underwater pics, no? Unfortunately, I think the chances of this boat ever being recovered lie firmly between slim, and none...