Here's what happened...according to the dealer.
Ahoy, all-- We've all been waiting to hear what happened and really need to know if it might happen to another Catalina owner. With lack of timely response from Mr Shulman, I've talked with Kevin Coney of Coney's Marine. 1. The rudder did not drop out of the boat. The blade did delaminate. The internal skeletal structure appeared to be intact. The stock was fine. A new rudder has been received by Coneys Marine and would have been installed if it hadn't been for Floyd. The failed rudder is being returned to the Catalina factory for analysis. 2. The cause of rudder delamination is as yet unknown. Two possible reasons were put forth by Mr Coney as speculation: a) There could have been damage to the rudder from an incident such as grounding or wrapping a lobster warp, mooring, even anchor line about the rudder. [HutingtonHarbor has strong reversing currents.] Any of these could have happend without being noticed. b) There could have been a bad batch of foam or faulty procedure used in the blade fabrication. In either event, Mr Coney stated that Catalina does not plan a recall unless they feel there may be a widespread problem with the design or foam. This appears to be an isolated incident to which Catalina seems to have responded positively and quickly. To be on the safe side, perhaps we should look a bit more closely at our rudders this fall after hauling out and power washingl. Cheers-- Ernie April (WindCatcher C-42 #618)
