Cracked Fiberglass in Rudder Assembly

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Teka
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:26 am
Location: Sitka, Alaska

Cracked Fiberglass in Rudder Assembly

Post by Teka »

I bought my first boat, a F-30, two years ago & hauled out for the first time last week to have the cutlass bearing changed out. When the mechanic dropped the rudder to access the shaft, he discovered a full-thickness crack in the fiberglass section of the rudder assembly. We're wondering how it might have happened; whether it's a "stock" part that can be replaced or whether I need to have a fiberglass genius rebuild it. Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thank you ~ Teka

s/v Allegro
Sitka, Alaska
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GeoffSchultz
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Re: Cracked Fiberglass in Rudder Assembly

Post by GeoffSchultz »

What do you mean by "full thickness crack?" Where in the fiberglass assembly is this located? You might want to post a larger picture than you did as you can barely see the one that's there.

Regarding "stock parts", I suspect that Freedom made the parts for the rudder assembly and you'll have to have someone repair it.

-- Geoff
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1997 Freedom 40/40
http://www.GeoffSchultz.org

Teka
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:26 am
Location: Sitka, Alaska

Re: Cracked Fiberglass in Rudder Assembly

Post by Teka »

Where the light colored stripe is in the picture is the crack; full-thickness - meaning the crack shows on the inside too. I've got someone lined up to rebuild the fiberglass section, but I'm still wondering how it might have happened. If it hasn't happened to anyone else, maybe it was a fluke occurence?

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