Replacement Rudder (?)

[Clark]

There are cracks all along the seam produced when the two halves were assembled to form my rudder. The cracks are obvious and are limited to the rudder head - I don't see any on most of the section below the water line. I actually have two questions:1) Anyone have an idea what materials were used in the original? If it is all synthetic, I'll just clean out the cracks and re-epoxy. If there is a fair amount of wood; I can construct a new one which leads to:2) Suggestions on what to use as primary strength material in the construction . . oak, fir, mahogany . . ?? I would anticipate using marine ply as well.Info and suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[Brant Bricarell]

Sounds like my rudder

I can't help you on this one, but I just had my boat out of the water for a bottom job and my rudder looked like what you described. The portion above the waterline looked horrible but below it was fine. The rudder was also solid as far as myself and the boatyard foreman could tell. Good luck I can't wait to see how others respond to this.

 

[Cliff Ruckstuhl]

Foss Foam

If it is a Foss Foam Rudder I beleave it is a foam filled rudder made in 2 section's Port/Starboard then sandwiched togather. If so and it has cracks and water in it then it is just a matter of time before you need a new one. They are now selling Rudder's on this Site I have orderd one for my 28.5 and it is a fantistac work of art as far as rudder's go. Getting a new one from here might be more cost effective.Cliff H 28.5 "Red Dog"

 

[Mike Bacome,]

rudder

Cliff is right on with the foss foam , they used to have a forum within this website so check the archives, I had some cracks on mine for my h23 and had read about people getting water inside and ruining the rudder, ,they are a pricey item, I cleaned out the cracks on mine and used marine epoxy to fill the cracks , I sort of over filled then sanded and then repeated the process, so far so good, good luck Mike Bacome

 

[Clark]

Thanks For the Suggestions

I'll try the clean-epoxy route after a good dry out period and see if comes back. If that doesn't work, I'll compare cost to hassle and see which wins out for a new one.