I've lifted my yacht and the fin-skeg rudder has some damage. Whats the best way to go about repairing it.

Question

Behind the skeg where the rudder stock is, my rudder seem to have some damage. It appears the fibre reenforced plastic has lifted off on the port and starboard sides exposing the stock in a few places (largeish areas). Although they aren't deep it appears to me that it was just a thin plastic layer laid on the metal stock and has become detatched. It doesn't go around the stock between the back of rudder and skeg, so can be accessed with rudder attached but makes it difficult to work on?

Would taking the rudder off to effect repairs be a good idea and if so how difficult to remove the rudder? Also what would be the best way to repair the damage, grp resin with a thin fibre matt or something else? Thanks to all who take the time to answer.

Answer 1

I too agree with the first two answers.  My opinion would be to remove the rudder following the advice given.  What we don't know unfortunately, is if this is a wheel or tiller steered boat. (someone should suggest to yahoo to have the ability to add photos).  At any rate, remove the rudder.  You are going to need to grind out any delamination and re-lay new glass to the area ground out.  If we were talking about a very small area, you could use a poleyester filler, but since the damage is around the hardware holding the rudder, this would be disasterous.  Rudders take an enormous amount of stress when sailing.  After the glass has had time to cure, fair the area with sandpaper.  Next apply some sort of water barrier before applying bottom paint.  VC Watertite is a good one.  Now re-attach the hardware, using new if available.  Prep for bottom paint, apply, and re-assemble rudder following the reverse of how you got it off.

This is a very hard question to answer without a lot of information on the particular boat, or photos.  I think if I were you, I would have the local boatyard do these repairs.  Any reputable yard could probably do these repairs easily.

At any rate, good luck on this problem.  Hope you get back on the water soon

Sincerely,

BRV

Answer 2

anjelkake has good advice.......any time the glass has delaminated from around the rudder stock you are risking total failure, and just when you don't want it to.....like big seas and land nearby.....the grp has to be laid up around the stock to take strains, so a local patch doesn't do the trick........you should drop the rudder and take it to a good fiberglass person who has experience not only laying up glass but also in the stresses involved....make sure he uses epoxy, not polyester resin.... without seeing the rudder you'll have to do something like take off the quadrant ( where the steering cables/hydraulic ram attach), loosen the stuffing box/packing gland, and, with safety lines around it to hold it back,  lower away...the rudder is heavy enough that if it actually DROPS, there will be damage to it and anyone under it, so if you haven't done this before, best get a good boatyard crew to do it for you

Answer 3

I think to answer your question without a first hand look at the rudder and how your yacht is set up would be disasterous. In my opinon, you should replace the rudder. The integrity of the material is now weakened, and although you assess the damage as minimal, it could have a devastating effect on the open ocean.