F25 Rudder Play

[R. Bush]

Years of being left on a mooring without the tiller lashed down by the previous owner have left me with a lot of play in the rudder of my F25. You can see and feel the wear.

Is there any way for fix or even alleviate this problem, or am I looking at hunderds of dollars to replace the gudgeons and pintes? I don't see how you could even get the top gudgeon replaced without cutting a hole in the interior transom wall.

The boat is now out of the water for the winter, so I might as well get this job done before next spring.

[hxschiller]

I would check the prices of the rudder sets in the Schaefer catalog. If the price is more than you can bear, then perhaps you know a welder that can fill in what wear has taken away. After filling in the hole in the gudgeon, the hole can be redrilled. I would view the need to cut a hole to access the upper gudgeon as an opportunity to install a marine loudspeaker for your radio.
The marine industry seems to be oblivious to the eventual requirement to access, maintain, and replace boat components.