Earlier in the spring, I found a long crack on the leading of Bellum's rudder.
In the fall Josh removed the rudder. He reports the old core was a combination of balsa core and polyester-based filler. The balsa was soaking wet and the majority of the polyester filler was fractured.
The only areas of the rudder staying together were the leading edge (thanks to the new fibreglass in the spring) and the trailing edge.
He says that another deep freeze would have caused at least one of those to crack
open again.
The shaft is well built and in good condition. They routered out a channel in the new foam core and glued the two halves of the core together using fibreglass reinforced polyester resin. Once the resin had set they shaped the rudder and reinforced the trailing edge and upper knuckle of the leading edge.
Fibreglass was then applied to the entire rudder and it was put inside a vacuum bag until it had cured. It was then faired and five coats of Interprotect 2000 were applied.
A new bushing has been ordered and we will have it well in time for the spring installation.
Photo of New Rudder for Bellum
