tophatyachts.com

I have removed the rudder and it is extremely heavy. A friend said his was full of water and he had it drilled top and bottom and drained then epoxied back up. Has anyone had experience with this? if so what did you do?

Rob,

That's exactly what you have to do as well as repairing the leak!
Best to find that before drilling drain holes.

Do a search on the posts pre Jan 09, there was a lot discussion on this subject back then.

Good Luck.

Phillip.

I can never seem to get a good result from this search engine. I can only get six topics with the word rudder in it

Rob,

I'll do a search and get back to you.

Phillip

Rob,

I found the reference here it is. Not much there I afraid.

Phillip.


From: BigLofty4 (Original Message) Sent: 23/06/2005 10:24 AM

I have my Top Hat up on the slip at the moment - relaunching on Sunday night. I notice that the rudder fills up with water which runs out when the rudder is turned. Has anyone else experienced this problem (if it is a problem), and are there any suggested solutions? One recommendation was simply to fill the rudder with that stuff you can buy at Hardware stores for filling gaps and voids.

From: TomT_007 Sent: 23/06/2005 7:38 PM
Hi Big Lofty,
I have just gone through this whole exercise myself. In my case, the cracks in the rudder were of such seriousness that I decided to have a whole new rudder made. What I suggest you do is check the rudder for any serious cracks. If only minor ones are found, that do not require further work, then filling it with sealant could work effectively. Yes, I did have water running out.
I will put up the before picture of my rudder when I get a chance, so you can see the problems I had.
Tom Transfield

thanks Phillip that's something at least. I'll add mine to this post on how I fix it for further reference

Hi,
Is it critical that the rudder doesnt have water init?

I cant figure out what would be wrong with water in it??

cheers

I've had water in Felicite's rudder for years.
Is it a probelm and should I get it fixed?

don't know if it is a problem to tell the truth. I know a mate had his out and the guy that painted the hull also drilled the rudder and drained it then epoxied the holes up when it was empty.

G’day All,

Like anything that starts to show signs of deterioration if you don't fix it, it bite you in the ****!

I think, and see Toms' post above, it’s better to exclude the seawater before some serious damage is done. In some cases I think a water filled rudder may be heavy and that may make it harder to sail in some heavy weather conditions, it will certainly make the stern heavier.

Just my opinion!


Phillip.