hunter 380 rudder stock size

[@#$% boats]

Hi All. I am trying to find out what size the rudder stock should be for a hunter 380. It currently has a fiberglass stock and I want to change to S/S Does anyone know what they are using now? I hear its tube but cant find out what wall thickness it is. No the manufacturers dont want to supply that information.
cheers

 

[Steve Dion]

Contact Foss Foam. They probably mfg. the units. I assume that you are saying HUNTER MARINE does not want to supply the info!

 

[@#$% boats]

Hi. any of the manufacturers etc are not too keen to pass on that information. The quote i got was 3584usd. laughable

 

[Steve Dion]

So what are your alternatives?

 

[@#$% boats]

Ill build it myself. But i need the stock size. The rest is easy enough. Anyone got a SS rudder or the specs?

 

[Steve Dion]

When you remove the old one, you should be able to duplicate it.

I think that there are several tricks to making one of these and wonder if someone has the hydro dynamic/engineer skill to build a SAFE unit.

One major problem with these rudders is the ability to keep seawater from infiltrating the glass/foam. One seawater gets to the rudder frame the welds usually start rusting/corroding and you are ready for a new rudder. This is not to say that this would not happen with a unit built by a professional company.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Really? F/G rudder stock?

I doubt that your rudder stock is fiberglass. Maybe you mean carbon fiber. Anyway here is the link to the people who rebuilt my rudder: http://www.sailcraftserviceboatyard.com/portfolio.html . They build rudders from scratch. They might be willing to share tube information. Picture is of my "new" rudder.

 

[Steve Dion]

Ed: What happened to your rudder?

 

[Don12364]

H376 Same or Similar

Hi @#$% boats,
Here is the rudder drawing of my H376 as faxed to me by Hunter in August 1998.
The evolution was that the H376 soon became the H380 using the same hull and mouldings. I doubt the rudder was changed but this should be easy to check from a look at the top of the rudder tube and then from under the boat.
The lower bearing consists of a length of stainless tubing 6" OD bonded to the spirally wound fibreglass or Kevlar tube. The upper bearing is the same and, from memory, is 3" OD.
Both sleeves run in UHMW (ultra high molecular weight) Polyethylene bearings pressed into the spirally wound GRP rudder tube which, in turn, is bonded into the hull.
As far as I am aware there is no steel structure inside the rudder and the two half mouldings are simply bonded to the large diameter rudder stock tube - but I could be wrong and am interested to learn from anyone who has taken one apart.

At the time that Hunters went over to this type of construction they built a test rig and proceeded to bend or break several of their conventional stainless steel rudder stocks. However they were particularly proud of the new design as they were unable to break it and the test rig disintegrated when they gave it max pressure but with the rudder stock still intact.

Notwithstanding this, there have been failures of the new version as used in later designs of boat.

I reiterate Steve Dion's question - "What happened to your original rudder that you now wish to change the design please?" You have us worried!

 

[@#$% boats]

Thanks for the info. The old one met with an unmarked reef in the pacific at night and didnt have the strength. I think it a good thing that they made the stock so weak as it didnt damage the hull. I have the hunter drawings and can confirm the bearings and the original design if them, It is made of fiberglass, not carbon.
Rudder manufacture is not difficult. All I need is the tube size they use and I will make the replacement.

I note that hunter no longer sells the glass stocked rudder. That suggests that their wonderful innovation was perhaps not so wonderful?
I had mine break off with a very light hit.
cheers

 

[@#$% boats]

what stock?

I doubt that your rudder stock is fiberglass. Maybe you mean carbon fiber. Anyway here is the link to the people who rebuilt my rudder: http://www.sailcraftserviceboatyard.com/portfolio.html . They build rudders from scratch. They might be willing to share tube information. Picture is of my "new" rudder.

Could you tell me what they made your rudder out of? Just the stock material and length of rudder blade. cheers

 

[@#$% boats]

"At the time that Hunters went over to this type of construction they built a test rig and proceeded to bend or break several of their conventional stainless steel rudder stocks. However they were particularly proud of the new design as they were unable to break it and the test rig disintegrated when they gave it max pressure but with the rudder stock still intact."

perhaps hunter should invest in making a better test rig?

 

[Ed Schenck]

There was a thread about this subject a year ago: http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=113449 . And you still cannot call a composite rudder post fiberglass. Supposedly they are super strong if built correctly(http://www.csi-composites.com/rudders.htm). I provided the link and thus phone number to Sailcraft because I am reluctant to quote any details with this old memory of mine.

 

[@#$% boats]

I have emailed sailcraft, thanks for the link.
But this thread is not about fiberglass, composite or carbon rudder stocks or the pros and cons of them. I am not interested in them.
All I want is the size S/S tube to use for the rudder stock.
I am in a country that is in the middle of a poitical upheaval(military dictator just appointed a president that wont see an election for 10years) and is becoming increasingly unsafe. i cannot wait for a new rudder to be shipped. I dont have time for a protracted discussion. political discussions around here usualy start with sharpening the machete.

 

[Marco Garcia]

My 1993 40.5 has SS. I ordered the steering quadrant that attaches to the rudder stock. size is 3.5". I do not know if the size is the same as the 38.

 

[@#$% boats]

Here is the response after 3 weeks from hunter.
During the course of the 380/386 we only used a rudder that had a composite fiberglass shaft, on later models we did change from a composite shaft to a stainless steel shaft which consisted of different size tubing welded to together to try and stay with the geometry of the existing rudders. The tubing we used was schedule 80 316 stainless. You still have the rudder post with the bearings attached so I would think you should be able to take this to a local machine shop and have them fabricate a post to match what you have.

 

[Steve Dion]

It appears that you do not have a lot of options left. If you do not want Foss to mfg one for you and the ones that Hunter used later does not use the same sized bearing what are you left with?

I believe if you would have had Foss mfg a unit for you, it would be there by now.