Thanks, I see now.
As far as I know, on MKI&II, there is no standard location and most are homemade.
Mine is a little bit on the port side of the center of the transom.
I do not know why but I cannot add this picture so I will share it online.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tp9u2081gds3vdf/brackets.png
No motor along the Coasts of the Gulf of St-Lawrence (Canadian East Coast) can be challenging because of some strong tides and also b/c our marina is in an estuary. I have seen a sailboat my size standing still with the throttle at max power - this happens for some when the wind, the tide and the estuary current are working together against your boat. The good side is that one can build some serious skills quite safely in those conditions.
I can understand why people not used to sailing, pregnant on top of that, may feel challenged with sail-only maneuvers. But 10 knots is a really nice gentle breeze and perfect to learn and experiment. A missed opportunity for your guests I suppose.
When the weather and water are clam enough, sculling/yulohing is efficient and pretty gorgeous to look at.
A project I started last year for my Siren 17 (rowing and sculling, no motor) in the hope to participate in the R2AK one day or create one between friends in East Canada.
https://youtu.be/dceYiJDQoNo
I am definitively planning to do this on.
"
found it a tad laughable that someone buying a new 50' or bigger sailboat would be too concerned about the cost of rudder config"
I honestly can't tell what would be the diff in price between the two major types of skeg mounting, but security at sea and ease to repair/rebuild are my two main drivers when it comes to sailboat. And I do not buy brand new boats (I can imagine at 200k+, 5k would not make a big diff - but some will want wifi/5G over the skeg-hung rudder I guess...