splitting rudder seam
Hi Brian, My wife and I recently purchased a 1987 Hunter 26.5. In preparing it for launch, I noticed that the foam rudder seam was beginning to split open. I contacted the Foss Form, Inc. company in Clearwater, Florida at (813) 577 0478 to find out what to do.. The advice given by Foss was to have the rudder repaired BEFORE launching it for the season. The repair involved glassing the crease, fairing it so it was smooth, applying gel coat, and finally painting the entire rudder with anti-fowling paint. I was in a rush to put the boat in the water and lacked the talent to do a really good job as well, so had it done at the local fiber glass repair facility here in the Denver metro area. For the Hunter 26.5 rudder, everything that I mentioned having done cost $500.00. That's a tidy sum and could be reduced substantially by doing it yourself. Also the Hunter 23 rudder will cost considerably less to repair. However, paying to have it repaired or doing it yourself is not nearly as expensive as letting the crack widen, water enter the foam filled cavity during the season, and for the rudder to split completely open and need rebuilding. I say rebuild because Hunder doesn't normally stock parts for boats that they no longer make. Finally, here is a quote from the Foss Form, Inc. handout that came with our 1987 boat: "We do not recommend the use of dark colors on your rudder as they generate heat when the boat is out of the rudder in the sun...If the rudder is painted with a dark color, it should be shielded from the sun with a WHITE wrapping when the boat is out of the water." Our rudder anti-fowling paint is black, so we wrap the rudder with a white sheet when it is out of the water. Hope this helps. Ken
