Rudder Repair Pearson Triton 'Blue Aura'

[Jim B]

We're hoping to be able to repair this section of the starbord side of the rudder of Blue Aura and keep this third season going for us as new (ish) owners Triton #545 ('65) sailing Lake Michigan.

My sense of what happened is that there was a small gap between the fiberglass layer and the wood, which opened up and expanded when we ran the engine. I finally realized there was so much pull on the tiller under power that I should inspect the rudder. On a return from Michigan City to Jackson Harbor on July 5th, I removed this irregular piece, a bit bigger than a square foot. It had been hanging from the rudder, opening up forward.

I'll be reading more in the forum on rudder repair but thought I'd post these photos, and get your sense of whether

a. I can dry this out in a week or two and then
b. be able to seal the wooden core with epoxy and add layers of fiberglass and epoxy.

The mahogony core seems to be solid.

I am considering doing this work without removing the rudder. Right now Blue Aura is in a sling on crane. The yard owner is not rushing me to move her, so we thought we'd leave her there to dry out.

Or, do I need a completely new rudder?

Thanks in advance for your recommendations and suggestions!

Jim and Cyndy

[atomvoyager]

Jim, welcome to the group. While I can't say for sure that you don't need a new rudder without a thorough inspection, from the photo and your description I don't see any reason why you can't patch it up. If you have dry weather and the wood is dry then I'd just add more glass and overlap the repair into the old glass. It probably came off because the previous owner did not wrap the glass around the shaft and there was water that got into the joint and it delaminated. He may even have used polyester resin that has a less strong bond in that situation. Once you wrap at least one layer of glass around the shaft that shouldn't happen again. You might also take a heat gun to the wood for a few minutes just before applying the fist resin coat to ensure no moisture is near the surface at least. By the way, My Triton's rudder did not have glass over the wood from the factory, nor did any others I have seen so it's something many of us add later to strengthen it.