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Rudder Attachment problems on Sun Spur


I've read many of the articles and email archive but not all. Presuming my rudder was originally or subsequently repaired differently than the 1 x 63"rudder stock drawing dated 22 July 69 offered on the site. I am unable to line up the drawing or envision 63" of rod running through my rudder. Sun Spur's rudder has a 1" rod coming out the hull but ends just below an imaginary prop shaft line, much like the jpegs of #152 on the website. Rudder appears in good shape, except for the attachment to this 1" rod. While solidly attached, the connection is not smooth at the leading edges where glass meets rod. I'm wondering if I should fill in with marine-tex putty or overlap some fglass/resin staps around the rod and smooth towards the trailing edge...to better "encapsulate" the rod.

I think that your upper rudder post is probably a shortened version of the one in the 1969 drawing. The attachment of the rudder is really on the smaller brass rods connected to the rudder post. If these are in good shape, then fairing would probably do the trick. -- George Dinwiddie

The gudgeon appears to be one piece cast and in good shape. The top "pintle", if that is what it was, is corroded to some unreconizable nugget that I extracted from the bottom rudder gudgeon. The "gudgeon" attached to the rudder also appears one piece cast and has an identical sized aperture to the hull gudgeon. So, two questions here. How to repair, pin or rod, and how to manipulate the two solid cast gudgeons to accept the repair?

These gudgeons are probably two pieces, with the split obscured by the paint. If you remove the bolts, I think you'll be able to take them off in two halves. Take a look at the gudgeon photos.

The pintle was probably similar to the 3/4" brass rod shown on the lower 1969 rudderpost drawing. -- George Dinwiddie

The rudder connection at the show can best be described as a pedestal (the pin) between an upper and a lower mortar (the shoe and rudder base)! There is the shoe, the rudder's 1" x 6" base cylinder, and a free floating pin between the two.

It looks like you've got some old fairing putty here that you might want to remove and replace. -- George Dinwiddie

The shoe's aperture is 15mm wide and 9/10 or 24mm deep. The pin is a 7/16 x 1 5/8" figure eight shaped pin, floating free inside the well/hole of the shoe and the 6x 30mm cylindrical (brass?) part at the bottom of the rudder (aperture is or 13mm wide and or 19mm deep). There is a very shallow threading (4) on rudder end of this bronze pin. There is some elliptical wearing of the apertures of both the shoe and the cylinder.

This is typical wear for a rudder pin. Between the corrosion and friction, it wastes away. The worse it gets, the more it starts to beat up the rudder shoe and make the hole oblong. Replacing the pin is relatively straightforward when the lower rudder post is already tapped.

If a half-inch bolt will thread strongly into the bottom of the rudder post, then I would just replace the pin. If the shoe is worn considerably, I would also put a bushing into the shoe. This one doesn't look bad to me, but check the play of a 1/2" bolt in it.

If the threads in the bottom of the rudder post are two far gone to hold the pin, then you can drill and tap for a 5/8" bolt and drill the shoe for the same. -- George Dinwiddie


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We went to a Windjammers lecture to hear Bill Seifert and I was impressed enough to buy the book on the spot. I've heard a lot of people talk about ways to improve a boat, but I've never heard one person suggest so many good ideas that I hadn't considered. Part of the charm is the specificity of the suggestions. Everyone says you should secure your floorboards, hatchboards and batteries. Bill shows good suggestions on how to do so.

The suggestions are very practical for the do-it-yourselfer, too. Many show how to make or adapt inexpensive solutions. Tip #12 on closing the deck blower vents is one that will pay off for me without ever going offshore. I'll implement that one to stop the wintertime storms from finding their way belowdecks.

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