Advice on replacing teak with Stainless Steel

[raro3]

I'd appreciate advice on a job I'm doing on my Frances 26. The tiller is attached to the rudder by 2 large 20mm thick teak "cheeks" (their dimensions are about 22inches by 7ins tapering down to about 4ins at the head of the rudder, where the tiller is bolted. Both "cheeks" have rotted (one for the second time - the boat is in the tropics) and I'm planning to replace them with S/Steel, but the question how thick? Obviously the steel will be much heavier and I want to keep the weight to a minimum, so I was thinking 4mm - any views on this please? Thanks for any help.

 

[SHUG]

Stainless steel is about ten times the density of Teak so you are right to be cautious about the weight. 4mm would probably be OK but my preference would be to go for a bit more stiffness with 6mm. This woukld also allow you to countersink the screwheads to make a neater job.

 

[PlankWalker]

The tiller and fitting I made for my 36 footer was of 6mm and is too heavy.
If I were to do it again I would use 5mm and re-design to cut the weight down.
For the Francis 26 being kanoo stern weight there is critical and I would think
4mm would be OK as a minimum