Hi.....our boat is lifted out every fall for the winter. This past spring, I noticed a series of horizontal hairline cracks wrapping around the leading edge of the rudder on our Beneteau 323. It was too late to do anything about it at that time bit now that the boats are again out of the water, the cracks are slightly worse than the spring. I also noticed water oozing out of the top of the rudder around the post and from some of the cracks. I suspect that the rudder is water logged and the freezing has cracked the rudder. I would imagine this will only worsen and weaken the rudder over time. Presumably, the rudder should be removed and repaired. Does the rudder removal simply require removal (or loosening) of the 4 bolts holding the quadrant sections together (after removing the autohelm arms) and then removing the pin(?) Do the steering cables need to be removed from the quadrant first?. Thanks for your help.
Beneteau 323 rudder damage & removal
- Thread starter Orion B323
- Start date
Orion B323,
We had a similar problem a few years back on our B321. We took our rudder off and had it resurfaced at a place in Windsor. i was told to drill a hole in the bottom of the rudder and let the water drain out prior to the winter. i now have a small plug in the bottom of the rudder and have not had the same problem since.
I don't know how your B323 rudder is designed, but i suspect your instructions for removal are the same as ours. Make sure you have someone below to help when you loosen the rudder from above.
Chris
We had a similar problem a few years back on our B321. We took our rudder off and had it resurfaced at a place in Windsor. i was told to drill a hole in the bottom of the rudder and let the water drain out prior to the winter. i now have a small plug in the bottom of the rudder and have not had the same problem since.
I don't know how your B323 rudder is designed, but i suspect your instructions for removal are the same as ours. Make sure you have someone below to help when you loosen the rudder from above.
Chris
Cymeyer is right about drilling a hol in the bottom of the rudder. Even then it may not ever completely dry out. As that water freezes in the winter its going to expand and possibly still produce cracking.
When you get ready to drop the rudder, it goes without saying that you're going to need to dig a hole under the boat so that the rudder post can clear the bottom of the boat, even if it's on a cradle instead of stands
When you get ready to drop the rudder, it goes without saying that you're going to need to dig a hole under the boat so that the rudder post can clear the bottom of the boat, even if it's on a cradle instead of stands
I just took mine off the boat. First I sanded all the gelgoat off and made two hatches to one side and let it dry for two months. After New Year, I will put new epoxy foam inside and close the hatches.
Sorry for the picture names (in Finnish).
Sorry for the picture names (in Finnish).
Attachments
First dig the hole and put something under the rudder, see pictures, how I did it.
Then just loosen up those four bolts, no need to remove them. Remove the pin from quadrant. Then remove the pin from collar and the rudder should come off. No need to remove cables from quadrant.
After this, I just broke down the pile under rudder and the rudder came off nicely (I did whole thing alone and took about 20min after the hole was ready)
