I need some help with a minor repair to one of my (original) rudders. Does anyone know what the rudder is made of, and what material to repair it with? Is it polyester or epoxy fiberglass? Does it matter which one I use? Thanks Dave
My guess is the rudder is made from a polyester laminate if its similar to the 26S rudder (and Im assuming its polyester since the rest of the boat is hand laid glass and polyester resin - which I think is overall a good way to make a boat like this). This is probably a little controversial but polyester does a good job sticking to itself before curing so its great for fiberglass laminations. But it doesnt do that good of a job sticking to itself when cured for a number of years. If you can get a good mechanical bond with it, a polyseter fix might last for many years but my experience is that it will eventually delaminate. Epoxy on the other had sticks nicely to cured polyester. Its fairly foolproof for working in this application but its also generally fairly UV sensitive so you have to make sure its painted well and you can have all sorts of problems getting paints to dry on freshly cured epoxy. Good old spray paint however seems to almost never have a problem drying on epoxy. There is also some difference in how "waterproof" the two are and I could be wrong here but I think epoxy is also makes a better water barrier. So my vote would be to use epoxy (such as West System) for the repair.
The Epoxy is stronger, sticks better (can be used as glue), and is much more water proof. It is also more expensive. Go with the Maas or west system and get the pumps. The mixture is everything when working with epoxy. Stir it very well, then stir a little more. Make sure to scrape the sides and around the bottom while mixing. Neat trick, GOOP will get epoxy off your hands if used before it sets.
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