Association Forum - Rudder separating

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Rudder separating

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

greatescape
1st Mate

Member Avatar

USA
33 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/19/2006 : 14:40:48

Need some advise as how to seal forward part of rudder in between the pintles. Is 5200 or marinetex a good idea? (You can press it between thumb and index finger.)There may have been some water intrusion last season. But I'd like to seal for now.

Thanks in advance for anybody's help.

Scott - Great Escape 82'Catalina

Scott

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

Members Avatar

Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2006 : 16:04:49

Most of us are pretty comfortable with modest epoxy projects. The value is that it with a little glass cloth when appropriate can be sanded and shaped until it looks pretty darn good. Marinetex can also be shaped to a degree, 52300 seems like a way to make it look bad and be a problem to improve on. I would take the pintels off and put a fresh front edge on of glass and epoxy.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2006 : 17:08:14

My concern is that you don't know the extent of the damage inside the rudder. Several skippers here have reported having the rudder snap clean off at about the lower pintle, which can be especially disconcerting when sailing off the wind. The older rudders do tend to split at the seam joining the two halves--mine had done so when I bought the boat. I decided for safety and for more easy handling (according to several reports) to replace it with the new "balanced" rudder from Catalina Direct. I'm glad I did--it's like installing power steering.

BTW, if you choose to fix it, I'd say definitely epoxy, dribbled into the gap as much as possible (and at least a strip of glass cloth)--5200 or Marinetex will not add any strength to whatever's happened in there.

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 05/19/2006 17:11:10

bjoyce
1st Mate

Members Avatar

51 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2006 : 17:18:38

I had fixed a simular repair in fact it was my first attempt at epoxy and gelcoat work. The rudder appears to be all fiberglass and I didn't have any problem with water intruding into the rudder. Maybe some have a wood core and a more extensive repair would be needed. I grinded the curling pieces gelcoat off about 1/4 inch into the fiberglass. Filled the gap with epoxy but left enough room for a 1/16 inch layer of gel coat. The west system is very user friendly.

Edited by - on

djn
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2006 : 18:32:00

I fixed mine, which was seperated at the same location, by prying it open a little and drizzeling West System epoxy until it was full. I gave it ample time to work its way into all the crevisous and then clamped it tight. As I clamped it, I wiped off all the excess. Cheers.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2006 : 22:43:35

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by bjoyce
 The rudder appears to be all fiberglass and I didn't have any problem with water intruding into the rudder.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
My recollection from investigating my original runder was that the head was cored with wood, while the lower, more tapered blade was solid fiberglass. I suspected that moisture had entered through the tiller and/or pintle holes, and in the winter freeze, swelled and split the shell. That same swelling could create the weakness that caused a few other rudders (as reported here) to snap just below the cored section.

Another thing that probably contributes to that kind of failure is heeling in rough seas, so that the rudder gets lateral stresses from the pitching of the boat. Small-lake sailors probably don't need to worry about that. (Besides, if you loose your rudder, you don't have to worry about being blown to Africa.

)

Edited by - on

tinob
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1883 Posts

Response Posted - 05/20/2006 : 08:20:15

I just repaired my OE rudder this spring. Found the leading edge seam opening up. This on a rudder stored in the cellar near the boiler. I had occasion to suspect water intrusion, so I drilled seven 1/4" holes up from the bottom to allow any water in there to drain out while stored over winter indoors. While repairing those holes this spring I noticed the forward seam parting, so I then ground down the leading edge and applied two layers of 2" fiberglass cloth, epoxy soaked to hold all things together while I place an order for the balanced rudder. Whew, long sentence, sorry.

Val on Calista # 3936 Patchogue, N.Y.

Edited by - on

aeckhart
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1709 Posts

Response Posted - 05/20/2006 : 12:22:35

Interesting. My stock rudder had a foam core which broke when the seam separated. The fibeglass kept the rudder together but at a 45 degree bend near the lower pintle. I was in a race at the time with 20 mph winds and very near a dangerous rock reef. Fortunately I was able to sail out of danger and complete the race on a downwind run. In fact, I was able to steer with it when motoring home, about 8 miles.

I now own the balanced rudder and glad of it.

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.