I have an 88' and my kick-up rudder is wood cored. Mine has small splits at both the bottom front corner and the bottom rear corner. It's pretty soaked inside, has a small 5" diameter delam spot near the bottom and it's heavy as hell. I ended up buying a replacement blade from CD this year. It's the newer foam-cored blade. Should be lighter than the original, I hope. It should arrive any day now. The previous owner of my boat always left the rudder down at the dock. I don't know how many years the watertightness of the rudder had been compromised. I noticed it when I bought the boat, but the rest of the boat was in such good condition, I overlooked it. I plan on raising my new rudder when not in use. That should keep it in pretty good shape and I won't have to barrier coat and paint it either. Dave
