[Christopher de Janasz]

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:

IMG_12823024×4032 2.24 MB

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