Alex,

The balanced rudder is NOT class legal and has been discussed at length previously in the forum. It does not conform to the profile in the class specs. You can see at this link that the leading edge is a straight line for the class legal rudder. The balanced rudder leading edge is more forward of the pivot, resulting in the balancing effect. I've sailed boats with the balanced rudder and personally, do not like it because you loose the feel of the helm. That helm pressure is what tells you that sail adjustments are needed! The only benefit would be reduced pressure on a beam reach where there is lots of pressure in a strong breeze.