S
Sam Lust
I have a 1983 shoal draft Hunter 33, probably the last one built. The rudder post is 1 1/2" solid stainless and the rudder itself based on feel, sound and weight (it weighs a ton) appears to be solid. The rudder draws the same depth as the keel. It has no funny bulges and only minor cracking at the top where the shaft goes into the glasswork itself.What are the chances the rudder was made by Foss Foam? The area I sail in, Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, is at best, shallow and we tend to bump the bottom frequently, at the expense of the rudder. When It bends the aft tip at the top rubs against the fin extension, making steering a grinding experience. To cure this without hauling the boat I back the boat down against a sandy beach that drops down sharply. A shot or two and it's straight again, so far with no damage to the glass. Any thoughts or experience on how much of this the shaft is going to take?My feeling after owning the boat for 3 years is that the rudder is too small. Response is slow and soft under both sail and power. I tried a temporary, glued extension last season and it made a big difference in rudder response. (Very exciting when it broke free under power!) As the rudder is already as deep as it can reasonably go I want to increase it's surface area by extending it fore and aft. About 1/4' fore and about 1" aft. The question is on method. The way I'm figuring on doing it is: Run SS #8 screws into the aft edge leaving about 3/4" exposed without heads to provide support. Fill in between with 3M vinyl ester putty as core, and covering with several layers of glass and epoxy. As yet I'm undecided as to what type of glass. The forward edge would be just a bit of putty covered with glass and epoxy. All of this faired with 3M vinyl ester putty, then Interlux barrier coated. Does this sound like a viable method, and/or could you suggest a better way? When the time comes for replacement, how are you guys at doing semi custom? I'm figuring on using a shape from another boat on a duplicate of the original shaft.How's that for rambling? Thanks for your help.