Dart 15 Forums

I have a problem with 1 of my rudders. The contoured corner which holds the roller in place to keep the rudder raised has lost the lip at the external corner. This seems to cause the rudder to easily fall back down if the tiller or rudder moves at all while manoeuvering the boat out of the water. Is it possible to rebuild up this corner using some sort of cement/gelcoat/epoxy? If I could rebuild this corner back up, I should be able to re-fashion the contoured edge using a half-round file to match my other rudder. Unfortunately I don't know what substance to use to build back the missing corner or where to get it.

Any advice appreciated.

Whilst you are in rudder checking mode check the top casting.

If your rudders ground sideways - e.g. when beaching - of course they cannot flip up in that direction. The result is that the mechanical advantage of the blade is enough to distort the top casting which is quite soft. This leads to roller problems and can end up with the blades not 'latching up' as the rollers do not sit squarely (in worst cases the roller pops out).

Look from the rear (open end of frame) and see if the horizontal 'wings' of the top casting are parallel against the alloy frame and in a horizontal line with each other. Another sign is if any of the 6 rivets holding the casting to the frame are loose - they have probably been stretched by the casting flexing. If the 'wings' appear to be angled upwards from the centre then they have bent and this opens up the gap where the roller pin sits.

I have 6 rudders to service and have had to repair this fault on 3 over the last few years.

The solution is relatively simple but requires care. You have to remove the casting (drill out the rivets and disconnect the tiller arm and remove the roller. I have found you can put each wing in a vice (with something like wood or leather on the jaws) in turn and apply some steady pressure to the casting block with steelsons or similar to bring the wings square again - this also has the effect of closing the balde gap up a fraction - which is where the problems come from. You have to take care that you do not apply too much pressure that you might break the casting and must not use the gap in which the blade sits as a leverage point - you are trying to close that gap up a little.

When you are happy that the 'wings' are parallel you may then have to 'adjust' the flanges on the alloy frame in the same way as they can also bend with the casting if the rivets hold tight.

New rivets and rollers and hey presto.

If your problem is just the blade then it would be best to try and make a cardboard template up from someone else's rudders to guide your rebuilding exercise. I think others are probably more knowledgeable on the subject of how to build the blade up than me - hopefully you will get a separate response with regard to that.

Regards

Steve Willis

Hi Eamonn,
The simple way is to use a small hacksaw to ruff up the edge, then apply some epoxy / araldite or similar to the area and re shape. Whilst the lip does have some effect on rudders dropping down when raised a good round file working across the area where the roller sits when the rudder is in the raised position is normally pretty effective.
If you want a repair that is a bit more visually attractive you might need to use some resin and matt to give you the shape and then some gelcoat, I would start with the epoxy.
Brian Windsport.

Thanks guys. Thats been very helpful. Now all I have to do is get the stuff and do it!