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The rudder broke off while sailing on Saturday. Luckily there is a line attached to it to raise it when beaching or trailering so I didn’t lose it, but had to sail back to the club without a rudder! Question: is anyone familiar with this boat or tilt up rudders? The shaft broke out of the rudder, I think, because a previous owner added some weight to the bottom of it to keep it submerged while underway. I want to keep the tilt up feature, but I think the shaft in the rudder is a bit of a flimsy design. I think a one piece stainless steel shaft/bracket might be better. Gary Hoyt and Ted Hood were the original designers. I know Ted Hood passed a few years ago, but if anyone knows if Gary Hoyt is still active, I would love to get his feedback! Thanks in advance for any help/thoughts/ideas.
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Difficult to give advice when you don’t provide the kind of boat you’re sailing or any pictures. Have you tried contacting Gary Hoyt? http://www.garryhoyt.com/id46.html
Thanks for the response. At my end the sailboat make and model shows up under the title, sorry if you didn’t see it. It’s a 1994 Expo 14 Solar Sailer. It was designed by the aforementioned Garry Hoyt and Ted Hood and built by the same folks that built the Freedom Yachts etc. They now manufacture blades for wind turbines.
I did try to contact Garry Hoyt at his website, but there is no email address and the phone number is disconnected or no longer in service.
I took the rudder and rudder shaft to a fabricator, who is also a sailor, and he is making a stainless steel bracket and solid shaft (unlike the original stainless tube shaft) for the rudder. It should be finished in about 3 weeks.
Unfortunately with old boats, especially when only two hundred were built, you have to make or have made the parts yourself and try to improve on the original design.
Here is a of photo of the damage to the rudder:
Hi, I recently broke the rudder on my Expo Solar Sailer. See attached photo. I am wondering if you have any advice based on your experience. Or maybe you have an old rudder you would like to sell.
Looks like the advice is to make a new rudder. If the original was made of plywood (photo isn’t obvious) you should be able to trace the shape out easily. Perhaps sheathe it with a layer of epoxy and fiberglass for abrasion resistance and make sure the pivot hole for the tiller is well saturated with epoxy, to keep water out of the plywood.
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