Broken rudder

[Sabre27Admin]

Andreou
United Kingdom
14 Posts

Posted - 18/09/2011 : 18:26:38


Broken rudder;

I lost steerage yesterday, the tangs appeared to have snapped.

I need to tow her to the yard and dismantle the rudder.

I have the owners handbook leaflet, does anyone have further advice or can offer experience of same thing?

Can you recommend a best course of action!



Many thanks
Andreou
keith
United Kingdom
118 Posts

Posted - 19/09/2011 : 19:32:34
Its a common problem, often why you see sabre rudders with a hole in the top aft corner to put a line through.
Im just making a new rudder for a member, this one turns out to have been "repaired" twice with mild steel tangs by a so called profesional yard. the last time was only a few years ago & upon cutting it open i snapped the tangs off with my bare hands.
In this case crevice corrosion near adjacent to the old welds means a new rudder stock as well as a new blade.
You can either use a diamond blade & cut down the centreline splitting it into two halves or go in from the side & uncover the tangs that way. If you do this you will have quite a bit of grinding & glassing to do to repair the side. Though the normal practice is to fill the rudder with foam i dont like this as it soaks up a lot of water regardless of what the manufacturers say!

Andreou
United Kingdom
14 Posts

Posted - 15/10/2011 : 21:39:43
Thanks Keith

I got the rudder in half no problem but my next question is whether i should mould new cheeseblocks of epoxy and stick them inplace to hold the steel shaft BEFORE welding the tnags or after.

Also can you recommend the best way of removing the tangs from their sleeve so the weld surface to be offered up can be cleaned prior to welding? I want to avoid damaging the fibre glass. It's a pity i can't post a photo here to show you what i mean!





KInd regards
andy

keith
United Kingdom
118 Posts

Posted - 17/10/2011 : 19:00:30
It is easier to chop the old glass out & grind it clean. The new tangs are normally welded on with the stock out of the rudder shell.
You have to watch it when welding the tangs on as it is quite possible to warp the rudder stock. Then they are not so easy to straighten out!
i normally weld a small slug of the same section flat bar as the tang onto the opposite (front) of the stock to balance the welding stress.