How do you guys tie up your rudders while underway...

[Tomfoolery]

1/2"?! Wow, that's big line for a rudder. Mine came with 3/8", two separate lines for each rudder, but even that's too big for that tiny cleat, so I changed to 5/16". And I use the loop, too, which passes through the open center of the cleat, so I don't lose it.

[Russ]

You should use braided polyester rope. It will have less stretch.

Dock lines and anchor lines should stretch and nylon is best for that.

[Herschel]

I am coming in late on this, but for what it is worth, I have two jam cleats on each side of the stern over each rudder. They are not self releasing, so I have to be aware of my water depth. When I raise the rudders for motoring, I pull the continuous line for the up position and loosen the other end for the down position. Both ends jam easily into to their respective jam cleat and hold well. I use 3/8 inch rope and have never had a problem with it slipping out. The three times I have run aground I have used my Leatherman tool to pick the ropes out of the jam cleat so I could raise them and get off the shoal. Fortunately, here in Florida, all of my grounding shave been soft, and no harm has come to the rudders from the grounding.