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E27 rudder cracks

Larry Stanton

New Member
My 1973 E27 is a project. I have a couple of cracks in the rudder and I'm wondering whether it would be a big mistake to put it in the water this weekend and wait until fall to make the needed repairs.
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Shelman

Member III
Blogs Author
On boats of this vintage everything is suspect until proven otherwise. I would not recommend venturing out into open oceans with a questionable rudder. Here is a link to the rudder issues on my boat and a few pictures. http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?12527-Rudder-Rebuild-Replace
I would say at the least to remove the rudder and carefully inspect the shaft where it exits the rudder blade. Scrape away some gel coat and see what the crevice corrosion situation looks like, That's the most likely point it would actually break off. But with rust coming through the blade you definitely have some corrosion going on inside. weather or not its to a failure point can only be determined by tearing into it to have a look.
A whole new rudder is probably only about $1,200
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I'm with Shelman about not going offshore.

But for this summer, I'd probably dig at it a bit, and if it's not bent or spongy to the touch, and not obviously falling apart, just go sailing (like the previous owner did).

Older boats have lots of parts near the end of life. We can control the risk by prudence.

Just an opinion. Depends of your peace of mind factor.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.
 

frick

Member III
dealing with the rudder

What came to my mind.... lash down the tiller so it will not move.
The Get under the boat and put some starboard then port pressure on the rudder.

If the tiller does not move adn the rudder has a bit of play... I would say the madrills and loose on the rudder shaft.

Rick+
 

tenders

Innocent Bystander
If I were you I'd take a Dremel tool with a pencil-diameter-sized cylindrical sander and route a channel down that crack. Taper the channel a bit with a sander, lay down some thin strips of fiberglass and thickened epoxy, sand it smooth, paint it, and see what happens next season. Maybe a two-hour job, not counting cure time. The longer those cracks are submerged, the more water will seep in, the larger the cracks will get, etc.
 

Larry Stanton

New Member
Thanks

Thanks much for the good advice. I'm "fortunate" that I sail at the bottom of Lake Michigan and can always see land so going off shore is not an issue. Since there's no play in the rudder and the rudder feels solid I think I'll follow Christian's advice and go sailing.
 

tenders

Innocent Bystander
> I'm "fortunate" that I sail at the bottom of Lake Michigan

You might want to look into getting bigger bilge pumps.
 

Mark F

Contributing Partner
Blogs Author
Ha!

Ps I just found out you can't have less than 10 characters in a reply.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Two girls told Calvin Coolidge they had bet they could get him to say more than two words.

"You lose," he replied.
 
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