Rudder delamination

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Tim

If you read the Foss Foam website they advise painting the rudder white to lessen the chance for the rudder to overheat and delaminate from the sun while the boat is on the hard. Listen to this advice. My boat is on the hard and the rudder has been laying on the ground for about ten days. A rock snuck up under my boat and wiped out the original rudder and I am waiting for a replacement. The post is bent and it is unrepairable. Aside from some damage to the lower tip of the rudder it was in good shape with no delamination when it came off of the boat. I was surprised last night to step on the rudder only to find the skin to be completely delaminated. The rudder is garbage so to me it does not matter but I thought I would share the results of my unintentional experiment. It has been sunny but the air temps here in my area have not exceeded 80 degrees. Tim
 

Shippy

.
Jun 1, 2004
272
Hunter 356 Harve de Grace
conflicting stories

This yopic came up at our annual maintence workshop the local hunter dealer holds every year. Their "expert" agreed that in tropical climates this can be the case so why chance it and paint it white. But in climates like we have in Maryland, it provides NO benefit. Mine is painted the same color as teh bottom paint, in this case Black so I really am hoping the local "expect" knows what he is talking about.
 
T

Tim

Boat type...........

.........The rudder is from a 1989 H30G. As far as the "expert" goes, I know that the skin was firmly attached to the core when the rudder came out of the boat. Of course there is a chance that the bond was compromised when I hit the rock but honestly I don't think so. All I can say is that no matter what color my rudder is painted it will have a sailbag over it when on the hard. Tim
 
May 6, 2004
916
Hunter 37C Seattle
I had a bulge in the top of the rudder

Rudder was painted dark color and sat in 50 degree water all its life, but top few inches of rudder is out of water when boat is parked with stern facing south/sun. This was dicovered during my buyer's survey. Yard that did the repair said water got into the rudder ( foam was wet when rudder opened up for repair) and top of rudder exposed to sun cause air and water inside to heat up and expand, causing it to bulge out. This was in cold water and we rarely get air temp over 85 degrees. Rudder is now painted a light blue and I would wrap a sheet around it if hauled during the summer.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.