Rudder fiberglass repair

bob45

.
Nov 14, 2023
45
islander 34-2 lake michigan
Hi! I dropped my rudder because it looked like the top, flat edge had delaminated. But upon further investigation I’m not sure what’s going on. There was definitely a pice of glass coming off, but it appears to have glued on. It’s totally solid underneath. Any suggestions on what to do from here?
 

Attachments

colemj

.
Jul 13, 2004
770
Dolphin Catamaran Dolphin 460 Mystic, CT
Rudder are usually made in a 2-part mold, where the two halves are brought together after glassing, foam is injected in the middle, and then a layer of fiberglass tape is applied around the edges to reinforce and make the rudder a single piece. It's possible that layer of tape has detached at the top on yours. It is also possible that someone did a repair there or tried to stop a leak and put a new layer of tape on it, which has come detached. A third possibility is that the original design of the rudder had a large gap between its top and the hull, and a previous owner glued a filler there with fiberglass over it, which has become detached.

I'd sand down the area under the detached glass until it was clean enough to see what is going on. If you don't see an obvious seam from the mold halves that should have a layer of glass over it, and it is all solid and hard, then I'd just leave it like that.

Mark