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Trailering back from a Christmas trip to Monterey Bay. Rudder line snapped and the starboard rudder met the pavement. Needless to say, ruined. This is a custom IDA rudder which many be irreplaceable







Moral of the story... Always secure your rudders with a backup system while trailering.

Leon

Too late. Been there, done that. I didn't grind quite as much off. It is a sickening sound when you hear it happening.

I always tie mine up plus use the bolt that holds them up.

It seems like you might be able to fix it with a little work or maybe just smooth out the edges.

Good news. Talked w/ Joel and a repair can be done.
CF, I feel your pain.
Daniel, check your PM.

Leon

Thanks for the warning Delvi,ill slip a bungie around mine as a precaution

I have an extra 3/8 X 2 inch ss bolt installed in each rudder hinge assembly which acts as a "lock pin" to prevent the rudder from falling while in transit. It was installed by my dealer.

Is this not adequate? Do I need to secure each rudder with a bungee in addition? I must travel at least 60 miles to the ocean. I'm concerned.

Leon,

Your damage looked pretty ugly. I hope your rudder can easily be replaced or repaired.

The extra bolt and the rope in the rudder is more than enough. The bolt is a very safe and secure backup to the rope.

Those photos remind me not to be lazy and leave the bolts out.

At least on the Macs we have another rudder should we grind one down the road level!

That comment really didn't help, did it?

Dennis;

That bolt in the hinge is standard. Tie the rudder in the up position with the rudder cleats and then use the bolt for your trip. Same wrench - - - same size bolt as the boom.

Previously, I have used the bolt but maybe not tied the rudder up.

From now on I WILL do both, and not be so lazy like someone else I know who knew better. Sorry.

Rick

PS When you get a new rudder it will be a different color than the port side, cause the port side has been out in the sun. The new one will be nice and white (now how did I know that?). Been there done that one day when I forgot to put the daggerboard down and brushed the side of the jetty with a crunch (I wondered why it wasn't steering so straight?) Duh!

Gosh,

I don't mean to offend anyone.

Thanks, Leon, for the warning! You may have saved me from having a problem.

Leon,

A repair should not be difficult to do. It looks fairly straight forward. The biggest challenge would seem to be adequately strengthening the repair for the tork it will take in the water.

Since I do a lot of structural furniture repairs in my line of work, I'd be interested in seeing picts of the repair through its varied stages.

Ray

My damage was about half of what is in the picture. I used Marine Tex to build up a slightly bigger than needed repair and sanded it down to original size. The Marine Tex bonded well to the exposed fiberglass. I then used polyurethane spray paint to finish things off...........looks great.
I think you may need to build up layers of Marine Tex and allow it to harden for at least 24 hours between each layer until you get the desired shape. Having repaired my rudders quite easily, I feel that your damage iwould be repairable

id be inclined to make up some sort of reinforcing along the lines of drilling and tapping some screws into the rudder,building up the fiberglass and resin before sanding back and finishing with gelcoat

bastonjock wrote:id be inclined to make up some sort of reinforcing along the lines of drilling and tapping some screws into the rudder,building up the fiberglass and resin before sanding back and finishing with gelcoat

I repaired a Mac 26-S centerboard with similar damage, and it went quite well and was probably stronger than original.

Incidentally, several months back, a good suggestion within a thread was to include securing the rudders from "wind flap" when trailering. Travelling at 50-70+ MPH towing that Mac with the rudders flappin' isnt too healthy for the rudders.

Seems like a pretty straight forward fiberglass repair job to me. Even an idiot like me should be able to handle it. Heck, I'd welcome the opportunity for the experience and practice, much as I do when I hit a golf ball into a bunker.

Perhaps as a way of strengthening the repaired area you could drill a couple holes into the exposed area and glue in one or two steel or aluminum rods and then build up around them.

Ouch!

How long had you traveled before you noticed?
Did someone pull up next to you screaming "Your boat is dragging?"

Good advice to keep stuff secure.