Transoms

 A transom can be very useful on any boat,  where it can provide a convenient mounting for a rudder and even an outboard motor.   But with a long, narrow and pointy ended canoe, the weight  of those things are better placed more amidships where the trim will be less affected.
I must give the credit for this idea to some unknown fisherman from the Cook Islands .  No doubt similar solutions are used on many Pacific islands.  On one of my visits there, I saw a small flat bottomed plywood canoe with an outboard bracket that consisted of a length of 2x4 shoved through two rectangular holes in the sides of the canoe.  Nothing could be simpler or less prone to failure than this.

This Tamanu canoe uses the 2x4 to support the outboard on the ama side and the kick up rudder on the opposite side.  The leeboard should go on the same side as the rudder.

The Va'a Motu cassette rudder on its mount.

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