Rudder section repair. 1991 Legend 43

[Luigi]

Hi all,

I am the proud owner of Rivendel II a Hunter Legend 43 from 1991. I am in the process of bringing her back from a 10 year stint sitting in a marina.

I was a tad concerned when I saw the rudder tube wobble a couple of weeks ago so I removed the tank to find that the top section of the rudder tube had separated from the deck under the quadrant. The core has failed through years of water entering and now needs to re-cored and glassed which I gather is a considerable task.

I can’t seem to understand where the upper bearing is located. If a fellow hunter owner could look at one of the attached images of the quadrant and advise if that white sleeve (which seems seized to the stock) is the upper bearing that would be greatly appreciated. Could it have come free from the deck, considering the poor state of the fibreglass, and seized itself to the stock??

Does anyone have a cross section or diagram of the rudder section on this boat showing how it was made and where the bearings/bushers are.

I just want to get all my ducks in a row before I do the job and try to avoid any unpleasant surprises (although I’m sure there will be a couple) when she come out of the water.

Any advice at this stage is GREATLY appreciated…

Thanking you all in advance,

Luigi Anselmi

Rivendel II

 

[Paul Cossman]

Hi Luigi, I think I can help, but first I have to tell you that my boat is a 1991 Passage 42, not a Legend 43. It's my understanding from talking to Legend 43 owners that both boats had exactly the same hull (which is 42' 6" in length). Your rudder stock tube looks identical to mine. The white "sleeve" is indeed your upper bearing. I recently replaced my lower rudder bearing which had just plain worn out, and it had also come loose from the rudder stock where it was seated inside the tube. As you can see from the design, they are intended to have channels for the epoxy to help the bearings adhere to the tube that holds the rudder stock. There was quite a bit of empty air where the epoxy should have been (on my rudder bearing), and eventually the friction that held the bearing in place gave way. My lower bearing started to rotate inside of the rudder stock tube every time the rudder turned.

Anyway, the upper rudder bearing rarely carries anywhere near the load of the lower bearing, and you may not need to replace it. (If you do need to have a new one made, I'd suggest UHMW-Ultra High Molecular Weight polyethylene). I'm unfamiliar with Australia's system, but in New Zealand we have "marine engineers" who do such work. I'd have one come out to your boat to check it out with a micrometer to see if you can re-use it. Since it is the upper bearing that it is the issue, you may not have to drop your rudder to repair it. I'd suspect that you might get it down into place by carefully "tapping" it down using a piece of wood. The problem with that is that you won't be able to properly seat it in epoxy. But dropping a rudder is a monumental task--I did it, and it took a lot of time and effort. If you can tap the upper bearing back into place without dropping the rudder, that might be worth seeing if it will work.

I'm curious if you bought your boat directly from Henk Meuzelaar--he used it to provide medical services up in Vanuatu for 9 seasons. I believe your boat to be Legend 43 Hull #1 and she was built as a demo for the Moorings in 1990, so she could be a bit different than the other Legend 43 and Passage 42 models. You may already know this, but you can find a lot of info on your boat by searching under the boat name and Henkmeuzelaar on the forums.

Good luck!

 

[Luigi]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your quick reply. Much appreciated are very helpful. Another question if I may.

From what I can gather the rudder tube is glassed to the underside of lazarette which is also where it seems to have come loose. The cored fiberglass which makes up that part of the lazarette has failed and needs to be re-cored and re-glassed. My question being... where was the bearing originally? Was it fixed to the cored fiberglass section and the tube or just the cored fiberglass section? Any chance you might have a cross sectional diagram.

I’m just trying to understand if I can do the job without removing the rudder completely. If I have to lower it when she is on the hard to give access to the upper section that’s probably not so bad, but If I have to remove it completely it needs to come out when she is in the slings on the travel lift. And like you say if it comes out it becomes a larger task. I’m hoping that if she doesn’t need the lower bearing replaced I can get away with doing the work without removing the rudder entirely.

Unfortunately, I can’t just tap the bearing in place as the surrounding section has failed through core rot thanks to water entry after the bearing moved and the fiberglass wore with the movement of the rudder stock.

In relation to Henk, no I didn’t buy it from him. Although I do chat to both him and his wife on a regular basis (lovely folks). I have read the book and keen to read the sequel which has just been published . Unfortunately he couldn’t help me with this particular rudder issue..

They sold the vessel to a chap in QLD back in 2009 and it had pretty much been sitting in the Marina on Magnetic Island ever since. I came across her on Gumtree while I was looking for a similar sized vessel, did my research, flew up and the rest is history. Sailed her down mid last year and she is now sitting in Pittwater under going a modest refit before she ventures back out to sea. The ten years sitting in the tropics with little upkeep didn’t do her any justice.

Once again thanks for all your help.

Regards,

Luigi Anselmi

 

[Paul Cossman]

Hi Luigi,
I'm afraid that I don't know the answer to your question. The big difference between our two boats is that I have the center cockpit with aft cabin and you have an aft cockpit. My rudder post tube goes up through the headliner in my cabin and it is solid rudder post tube as far as I can see. Then I access the top of the rudder post by removing a Beckson deck cover. It appears to me that my rudder post tube goes all the way up to the bottom of my actual deck. I know the deck is cored, but I suspect that the rudder post tube is solid fiberglass all the way up to the deck on my boat.

When I remove the Beckson deck cover, I look down directly onto the SS rudder post. The bearing is situated below the top edge of the rudder post, and I don't remember seeing how far down it sits inside the tube.

Unfortunately my boat is in New Zealand, and I am (working) in Alaska. But since your rudder post tube goes through or up to a lazarette, I suspect the structure of it is a bit different.

Sorry I'm of no help on that front. But if I can be of any other help along the way, please feel free to holler!

Paul Cossman
S/V Sabina
paulcossman@hotmail.com