spider cracks on lower rudder mount

[scott g.]

i am considering the purchase of an '86 25.5. after a thorough once over, top to bottom, i do have a couple concerns.one being the presence of small spider cracks in the fiberglass around the bottom rudder mount and some off to the starboard just above the waterline. the later being the worse of the two areas. these are very minor cracks at this point. however, i feel if left unrepaired it could lead to serious delamination in the transom. any advice on what would be the best approach to repair would be very helpful. thank you very much! scott

 

[Steve W]

rudder cracks

Scott, In my search for a bigger boat, the 25.5 was one of my favorites. I must have looked at 15 of them all over Florida and S. Georgia. Everyone of them had some cracking around the rudder where the brackets are bolted thru the rudder. Several of them had the rudder mounting hardware replaced with larger hardware and according tho the owners, solved the problem. A cheap fix. This is a high stress area and the manufacturer's hardware seems a little light, especially for a boat that is so much fun to sail and begs to be pushed hard. Make it a negotiation issue, make a great deal and enjoy the boat. By the way, I raced on several 25.5's and they are great. The only other common problem I found was a most had blister problems. I ended up buying a 28', diesel, wheel, enclosed head, furling, etc, due to my wife wanting a roomier boat. Good Luck.