Rudder damage

[david]

Hi All,
            I am looking for suggestions on how best to fix the damage I inflicted on my rudder by dragging it on the concrete boat ramp! I know Claus had a post on a brass fitting on this also. Sad it is no longer available. Here are a couple of pics of the damage.

[Clem Freeman]

I would sand down the damaged area back to a solid base and feather the edges. You could then build up the area with layers of glass matting, then cover the area with a thickened resin. Once dry sand back to correct shape. 

[david]

I also sent an email to Matt,  he sent me a nice email with the solution to fix it. It's nice to have such a responsive builder that can help us. Glad I got the Swallow boat. *********** Hi Matt, I am hoping you can help me and offer some advice on fixing my rudder. I dragged it on the concrete at the boat ramp. It scrapped off the coating and a few millimeters of the body. What is my best course of action to fix this? Will it harm the rudder coating etc if I sail it without fixing immediately? (The coating does not look like it will flake off). I am attaching a couple of photos of the damage. Do you have a guard for the rudder I can purchase from you?
Matt was kind enough to reply and offer a solution for me that is not to technically challenging! Here is his reply. **** Good to hear from you, but sorry to hear about the damage. It is easy to fill the gap in the gelcoat with a 2 part epoxy resin like araldite or similar. Not sure what you have in the US but a normal hardware store should sell something in 2 tubes that you squeeze out and mix together in equal parts. Put this on and things won’t get any worse. You can mix small quantities and build up the thickness, but if the glue is already thick and gloopy (most are) then you should be able to get it all on in one or two mixes. After that you can if you wish, sand it back flush and paint with a decent enamel or even 2 pack paint. But you don’t have to do this - just for looks really. I have toyed with the idea of making a stainless plate fabrication on the leading edges of the rudder and CB. This has given me added incentive. Always in the past I thought it would be relatively expensive and very little credit would be given at boat shows for example, when trying to sell the boats. Having it as an optional extra doesn’t seem right somehow, so we would be probably reducing our margins/or increasing the boat price to pay for it. Several people have done the same as you though so maybe I will give it some more thoughts. Best wishes
I am also thinking that I can use/match the gel coat to help with the cosmetics.

[Julian Swindell]

I would add that I always try to carry a syringe or couple of tubes of quick set epoxy on board. My hull is epoxy ply and I scratch it far too often. A quick squirt of epoxy seals the plywood very quickly. It might look a mess, but it stops the water getting into the wood and is easy to touch up later. I have squirted loads into the bottom edge of my rudder over the last couple of years as I have ploughed the bottom of all of Poole harbour at some stage or other. I would think that fitting a protective shoe to the bottom of the centre board would actually be a better idea, as that is not reachable to inspect or repair. I have no idea what mine is like but judging from the rudder I should think it is quite worn.

[Graham W]

I would think that fitting a protective shoe to the bottom of the centre board would actually be a better idea, as that is not reachable to inspect or repair. I have no idea what mine is like but judging from the rudder I should think it is quite worn.

Looking at the photo below, I think the BR centreboard projects quite a bit deeper than the rudder and I'm fairly sure that my centreboard has hit the bottom a lot more frequently than my rudder.  Most of my rudder dings have been from trailer manouevring incidents like David's.

[Julian Swindell]

Yes, my centreboard always bangs up well before my rudder does. I am afraid I do use it as a depth sounder. I have a proper depth sounder, with numbers, but it is not all that reliable at really shallow depths. I also have a boat hook marked in quarter metres, and that is the best for really shallow cruising.

[Guy Rossey]

" the damage I inflicted on my rudder by dragging it "
Hi David, this happens even in the best families! I protected the rudder with a SS lid as shown.

[david]

Nice solution Guy. I am thinking of doing a similer fix after filling in with epoxy. I am hopeful that Matt will develop a solution for us all going forward.