broken rudder repair

[sailblue]

Hi Guys
I have a SO 43 with a local charter company. Recently the rudder was damaged, it is out of the water, I saw it today. Approx. 40 cm snapped off. They are repairing it, and I am surprised that is acceptable. Is this a safe repair? They mentioned sacrificial section? Any comments out there, can it be done?
tks
Phil

[MartyB]

Zanshin, Where are you?!?!?!?!?!

I am recalling him having to do something to his DS of about that length. And one other person with a non DS with a failed rudder stock of some sort. This is not looking real good!

Marty

[Zanshin]

I just returned from 3 weeks of sailing in my 43DS

The steel stock does not go all the way to the bottom of the rudder on the 43DS; but I have never heard the term "sacrificial section" mentioned before and doubt that the original designer planned it that way. But I would guess that the stresses at the bottom of the rudder are lower and that 40cm would bond well to the remainder of the rudder and that part is, in turn, well bonded to the steel rudder stock.

But if you search the annals of this forum you will see that I lost my rudder at sea, and this was most likely due to a rudder accident (perhaps similar to yours) which probably started crevice corrosion which subsequently caused my rudder stock to fail. So, as part of this repair, I would suggest that they drop the rudder and examine the visible stock for signs of damage and perhaps even use that opportunity to replace the rudder bearings - or wait until you get to the end-of-charter refit to have that done.

[sailblue]

They did not drop it off, been checking every day. Also noticed 7 cm long crack, both sides, where the stock goes in. Probably caused at the same time, they have now dug out and epoxied up where the cracks were. I will make a point of diving down to check if the cracks reappear. I am in the Gulf of Thailand, so no huge seas.

[Zanshin]

Sailblue - do you have access to a competant marine surveyor locally with whom you could talk, or even access to a remote surveyor elsewhere who could give a professional opinion? I wouldn't be too worried about the damage to the bottom of the rudder, but those 7cm long cracks at or close to the shaft-to-fiberglass-rudder join would have me worried, since the repair that was done there is only cosmetic and not structural. Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but if a surveyor shows doubt then I would certainly think about replacing the rudder "in toto". I think it cost me around $5000 for the rudder and much of that was air-freight. So perhaps you could use the repaired rudder in light seas and conditions and order a new one from Jeanneau with much cheaper ground-based shipping and install that when it arrives.

I think that, as a charter boat, you will get guests who aren't familiar with sail balancing and who might not reef in time, so the side-loads on the rudder might still get pretty high and perhaps cause the stock to debond from the fiberglass rudder. The forces on that join are quite high.

[rclarke]

Sailblue - sorry to join this late. I had a major problem with my SO 43 rudder last year and has to replace it. 2300 Euros ex works. Earlier in the boats history, she had had cracking of the GRP near the rudder stock. This was cut out and rebuild when the previous owner had the boat in the BVI. Jeanneau asked for my rudder back and the cut a large V out of it at the rudder stock. They then refilled this and announced that there was nothing wrong with my rudder, ignoring the crevice corrosion in the stock. They must have been worried about something other than the fault I reported.
You should take it up with Jeanneau but do not expect too much from them. My insurance company refused to insure the boat with the original rudder because of the corrosion problem.