Need advice for fiberglass repair on rudder.

My IP27 rudder has a problem at the bottom. A little history, when I bought the boat the survey found a problem with an old repair done at the bottom of the rudder. This was corrected as part of the sale, or so I thought. The repaired area on the starboard side directly above the keel strap bolt has popped out. When I removed the loose repair which looked like a putty and not fiberglass I found the cavity full of what looked like uncured calk. This actually started to set up as it was exposed to the air. I removed the “calk” and found the area hollow and I can see the top of the bolt threaded in from the strap. The cavity does not extend up into the rudder or forward and back. I also found a crack on the underside on the port side. My question, is this area supposed to be hollow? What would be the suggestions for repair as in to fill the void or just glass over the hole? And if it should be filled what to fill it with. The crack I would think should be cleaned out and repaired, possibly with an epoxy product. As far as I can tell this area is not structural and should not affect the integrity of the rudder. Any advice will be appreciated.

Ken I'm going to be very interested in this thread... I've got a little fiberglass work that I want to do in the head. Not a good place for experimentation LOL...

Hayden,

Yes that is the bolt. And it appears to be solid; I did not put a wrench on it but will before any repairs are made. The cavity does not extend back into the rudder in any direction but does go across to the fiberglass shell on the other side. The rudder is solid and shows no sign of separating. The hole and crack at the bottom are the only problems I can see. The crack is on the bottom of the cavity and does not extend to any other part of the rudder. When I cleaned out the loose material I was surprised to find that the hole is smooth around the edges and is uniform like it was molded in when rudder was made. I suspect that the crack and the material plugging the hole coming loose could have occurred from water in the void freezing. I did think to just fiberglass the hole closed but then started to question why the hole was there in the first place.

Ken

Spoke with Karsten at the factory today and this cavity is not factory and is probably the result of some past repair. As long as the bolt and attachment point is secure the suggestion is to fiberglass the hole closed and not worry about it.

Ken

Hayden,

It does look like an intentional hole and not the result of an accident. Who could I talk to that would know? I am wondering if the hole was made to repair the bolt attachment at some time in the past then just plugged up, although it does look like it was formed when the rudder was made. Karsten did say that no IP rudders were made with a hole like this. He did suggest that it could even be a replacement rudder although not likely.

Ken

Ken & Hayden:
The original attachment was a bolt that was threaded into the bottom of the rudder.
What you show appears to be a bolt inserted into some epoxy material (as part of a repair ?) with a nut on the outside. It could have been someones way of dealing with a bolt that had ripped out in a grounding.
If the bolt is solidly in place and the material that it is in is securely fastened to the shells I would recommend to fill the whole void with a epoxy (so there is no place for water to leak in and freeze) and lay on a layer of fiberglass cloth & resin over it to secure it, fair as necessary, reattach the strap and paint it. The strap is not structural.
Good luck with the project.
All the best,
Norm Pierce

I too have an IP-27 with an issue with the lower part of the rudder not being secured (boat bottom cleaning diver informed me of this). I will seek repair shortly. My question is, can the boat be safely moved with this issue? The nearest repair facility is 35 nm away.

Thank you !!

Dale Fletcher