David;
Let me tell you about my experience and why I recommend you opt for a new rudder. I had a grounding back in 2004 when the boat was new to me. Towboat/US proceeded to tow me off by pulling me over the shoal and I ended up with a bent rudder post. The yard got approval to remove glass & foam from the rudder, heat the shaft and straighten it, and then reglass the rudder blade. Fast forward to 2008. I was in a distance race (and ironically enough about 2 miles off the same yard and Towboat facility) when there was a bang and I lost steering. Thought it was a broken cable or idler sheave but could find no problem. Dove on the boat and there was no rudder or shaft. just a very sharp ring of stainless protruding a few inches below the hull. When the boat was towed in and hauled, it looked like mice had been nibbling on the rudder shaft. My shaft was made from 3" schedule 80 stainless tubing - which is over 3" OD and has a wall thickness of about .25". Diagnosis was crevice corrosion - so the repair was not covered by the insurance. (Parenthetically, I earned that the 38 1 & 2's almost all had the rudder shaft from 3" schedule 80 tube, and some of the 38LFs used a shaft from solid bar stock of the same OD while some had 3.5" schedule 80 tube. Southshore made a rudder for a local 38LF that had lost the skin and foam from the blade, sent him a rudder with the wrong shaft and had to make him a second rudder. (I used the solid rudder shaft from the failed rudder for the rudder I had made for my boat.) Talked to metallurgist in the engineering department at the forklift manufacturer where I worked. According to him, you reduce the strength of stainless steel up to 40% when you bend it, reduce it further when you heat it, and reduce it further when you rebend it. Oh, and you also reduce the corrosion resistance. The yard had apparently not completely sealed the new glass work around the straightened rudder shaft and it took just 4 years in the brackish water around here for the shaft to corrode to the point of breaking off. I sent my new-to-me solid rudder shaft to Foss Foam in Florida, and they built me a new rudder. It was surprisingly reasonable - a bit over $3K IIRC using the shaft I supplied- and the lowest of the several quotes I got. That's my sad story - and why I think you should get a new rudder and not a repair. Rick Brass Washington, NC From: CnC-List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of David Knecht via CnC-List Sent: Monday, July 30, 2018 11:47 AM To: CnC CnC discussion list <[email protected]> Cc: David Knecht <[email protected]> Subject: Stus-List Rudder repair? I have a decision to make on repairing the rudder on my boat after it was damaged in a grounding on a reef. The shaft is bent and they are proposing to straighten the shaft and then repair the fiberglass. It was described to me by the surveyor as a common process and no big deal. He said they used heat and hydraulics to do it while the shaft is still attached to the rudder. He described one done recently on a Nonesuch as bent worse than mine and came out fine. I have been looking into having a replacement built, but that is going to take more time and money to do, so I am wondering what the experience and wisdom of the group is on the issue of repair. Thanks- Dave Aries 1990 C&C 34+ New London, CT
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