I took the boat out for its first sail this year and lost the rudder.

Do you guys think this is reparable or am I buying a new boat? It’d be a shame to lose her over something so stupid

  • riodoro1@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    6 months ago

    Totally repairable. Surely its not cosmetic but you can fix much worse in fiberglass. Can you get a replacement rudder? The hull repair is one thing but fabricating a new rudder and tiller is another.

    • Koopa_Khan@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      3·
      6 months ago

      That’s a good question. I’m pretty sure I can, those I might try to fit a different style since the original set up wasn’t great

      If you were me, would you try to use the same wood that’s there or replace the whole structure?

      • riodoro1@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        6 months ago

        I can hardly see the wood inside but if it’s dry, hard and not damaged by the rip out then why not. Shouldn’t be hard to bond a new panel to the wood and then laminate it to the rest of the structure. Was the rudder hinge bolted to this wood? Because if it was then i’m not sure how it could’ve ripped out so cleanly.

        • Koopa_Khan@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
          1·
          6 months ago

          It’s hard to tell, but I’ll do some poking around today.

          The original hardware was drilled into the wood over the panel and sealed. The rudder had a pin that went through the mount and it’s own hardware. That pin likely bounced out and torqued the whole piece off.

          Thank you for the advice!