Rudder options

Cavi

Cavi

Member
So my rudder now has a large crack comming off one of the bolts, it is about 20 inches long but only goes abouthalf was down the blade. I plan on drilling a hole at the end of the crack and filling in with epoxy then replacing the blade. Which blade should i get? Intensity sails replica white, real laser performance, or another wood blade. I do not need class leagal, my biggest issue is durability as we beach it and it will end up bieng kicked up by the beach. I an leaning twords the intensity, but it is twice the price of a good wood one ebay. Ideas?
 
If you're at all handy with wood - or better yet, have a friend who is - you can drill 1/4 holes across the crack (from the aft side of the blade) and insert and glue dowel rods above and below the crack to stiffen it back up. Lots of cracks like this in Sunfish rudders so I'm sure more will be coming along with pictures and all. Have yet to have a rudder like this fail! That said, the new reinforced fiberglass boards are nice, too. Haven't seen one of the Intensity rudders yet. Good luck!
 
AQBill said:
If you're at all handy with wood - or better yet, have a friend who is - you can drill 1/4 holes across the crack (from the aft side of the blade) and insert and glue dowel rods above and below the crack to stiffen it back up. Lots of cracks like this in Sunfish rudders so I'm sure more will be coming along with pictures and all. Have yet to have a rudder like this fail! That said, the new reinforced fiberglass boards are nice, too. Haven't seen one of the Intensity rudders yet. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Cavi-
Whether or not you end up getting a new blade, I would still try to repair your blade as AQBill described. If you are hitting the beach as you described, you certainly won't want a LaserPerf blade - it's too expensive to abuse like that. (I would also work on that beach landing technique, as you are not only putting stress on the blade, but also the expensive rudder cheek as well as the bracket on your transom).

I have an Intensity blade and they are fine. Even if you race nobody will complain (unless you are at the NA's or something). I save my legal plastic board for only high-level events. Opinions will vary, but I probably wouldn't buy an eBay blade myself, unless I knew the condition (and origin) first-hand. You have to be careful the tiller holes aren't worn (elongated), and you may likely face the same stress-point issues, impending or repaired. That said, I've seen some ads for new, 'home made' replica boards that look interesting and could be ok.

I'm too lazy to fix splits like AQBill described with dowels, though that's probably best. I've used long wood screws, dipped thoroughly and generously in MarineTex, with good results, and the repairs have lasted years. I put the screws in as Cavi described for the dowels, pre-drilling.

Whatever you use for a blade, make sure that when you pop the rudder up hard, the top edge of the blade does not make contact with the sharp top inside edge of the rudder cheek. That's been the cause of so much blade splitting, you wouldn't believe. If that is happening, let us know and we can address that, too.
 
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Stop before you hit the beach?

Good luck
Kent
 

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Hi Cavi,

I've hit my share of things! My wife, the accomplished sailor, hit a cinder block a while back, nice solid thunk. Our neighbor was walking across his yard, he flinched a bit and kept walking :) Me, I like to sail under the windward side of docks and turtle my wife's boat, that's why I had to learn to fix them...

But to your question, sounds like a nice Intensity blade would hold up best. Wood will continue to have the same issue. And how about crafting a sacrificial bumper to add to top of blade where it hits cheek? Maybe rubber or cork, secure it with double backed tape? One of our old style rudders has a bumper "wear plate" where the tiller comes down on blade, it creates some give vs metal on wood.

Can you post a picture of the blade?

Fair winds
Kent
 

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I made a replacement rudder out of 3/4 fir plywood. It was in the middle of great sailing weather moderate to high winds and after beaching the boat the main sheet got caught and the boat capsized on land in a big gust of wind and the way the boat went over it broke the rudder. I made the rudder in in less than 24 hours fir ply and then covered with 3 coats of epyglass epoxy heat cured was sailing the next day. I only painted it after 4 years of use. Use your old rudder as pattern and the whole job can be done using drill, plane, rasps and sand paper but if you have power tools then the job will go faster. Good excuse to get some new power tools. Knowing that the edges are going to get lots of abrasion you can put some fiber glass on the wear edges. On the older type day sailers they would put a piece of brass on the wear edge and that would save damaging the rudder. I ended up painting mine white and it looks like the new fiberglass ones.
Ah no more varnishing the rudder.

Minas man
 
View attachment 16589 This rudder is in rough shape, and many would consider the repair time not worth the effort. After reading this thread, though, I've begun sanding it down and will attempt the Marine Tex soaked screw approach. These pics show both sides. I can't seem to invert pics on this attachment, sorry.
Plan to then stain, epoxy coat and spar poly x 3. Thanks for the direction in hoping to save this old rudder.
 

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That rudder looks pretty severely cracked. Keep in mind that a piece of mahogany large enough to make a new rudder isn't that expensive (~ $7 to $8 a board foot, and a rudder is about two board feet).
 
I don't have any power tools except a sander and a drill. I could trace the rudder, but what kind of saw would I need to cut it out?
 
With the damage that you have I would be building a new rudder as it is a safety issue Kevin is right, it's time to build a new one. After all the rudder is over 40 years old and now worn out and unsafe.
A hand saw and and a rasp will do the trick to shape a new rudder.
My first year of boat building school we had to build our wooden boat with hand tools only "as power tools are no excuse for skill" my English shipwright instructor would say. Wow that was over 30 years ago.
Good luck with your winter rudder project.

Minas man
 
Since all of the curves are convex you could cut out the rudder using a regular hand saw, then use the sander to smooth the curves. It would be much easier if you can get access to a jigsaw (or bandsaw). This would be a good time to change to the more "modern" shaped rudder with the pointy end (less curves).
 
At the start of this thread I was inspired to save the rudder. But maybe it's beyond repair, and safety is certainly an important concern. Now I'm inspired to make my own! Minas Man, I'd like to think I could do the job with my hand saw, but I think I'll take a ride out to Harbor Freight today for a jig saw and some blades. Thanks for the advice, and I'll post my progress!
 
If at all possible, purchasing more power tools is always the best option. I have 2 table saws, 2 miter saws, 2 drills etc... It's never too early or late to start a collection.
 
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Trace it out and take your wood to your local high school's Woods shop. I work in a high school and teachers are always looking for a little project to give a kid. Heck, they'd probably sand it down for you too.
 
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