Rudder

[purrsnickitty]

Good morning.
I have a hunter 1994 35.5 it's been on the hard
For 3 years. The rudder has cracked on
the leading edge.
How can I repair it, and does it require fibreglass
work?
Thanks,
Purrsnickitty

 

[MetricMountie]

I've had to do rudder repairs in the past and the 1st step I've always used, is to determine if you in fact have water intrusion into the rudder core. Check the rudder with a moisture meter to determine the extent, if any moisture in the rudder below the glass skin. If you find no intrusion, you can repair the surface cracks with expoxy and filler after widening the cracks a bit at about a 30 degree angle along the edges. Fill the cracks with the compound and fillet it out to the edges and sand it smooth. Repeat the process until the cracks are filled and flush to the surrounding surface of the rudder. Follow up with covering the area with fiberglas cloth if you feel the need to re-enforce the repairs. Finish up with a barrier coat on the rudder followed by your anti-fouling paint.

 

[purrsnickitty]

Thanks for the help the cracks seem to
be on the surface not deep at all.
I did sand it and the cracks are gone now
What is the rudder made of? is it made of
wood or just fibreglass. Is there a wood core??
I hate to be stupid about this. It looks like
wood to me just under the gel coat.

Thanks again.
Purrsnickitty

 

[MetricMountie]

I believe the rudder is foam cored over a steel frame. Foss made many of the rudders used on Hunter boats of yours and mines vintage. Since the cracks seem to be restricted to the gelcoat on the rudder, you may in fact want to mix up some expoxy and hardener and recoat the gel and then apply some new gelcoat to seal the rudder against future water damage.

 

[purrsnickitty]

Thanks for your time I will send a pic when
finished.
Purrsnickitty