[Richard James]

Uncle Bernard (Upton) was always insistent that I removed the vertical rudder after sailing every time. However it was made from solid hardwood and is very heavy and difficult to extract from the stainless steel cassette after sailing every day. I would like to replace it with a lighter rudder and have tried unsuccessfully to get quotes from various carbon fibre manufacturers. I am now considering cutting the un-necessary top 200mm off the existing rudder and stripping away 50 years of paint to reduce weight. Nick Phillips suggested that I could then apply a thin coat of fibreglass, then raise it every time after sailing, but leave it in its cassette. I would “lock and tie ” the whip staff on the traveller to stop the wind banging it around.
Any thoughts or advice, especially from Murray Reid, who has a similar set up, would be very welcome.
Please see photos.

[AOA]

To further lighten it you could drill 1″ holes all over it with, say, 2.25″ between centres, then fill the holes with foam before the glass cloth.  It would be light……

[murray reid]

Richard

Happy new year and apologies for not replying sooner, I am still getting to grips with the new website….

I actually used Bernard’s plan with slight modifications. I used foam and epoxy, I haven’t weighed it but I doubt it’s any lighter than the wooden one because I overdid the epoxy. I am also thinking about cutting off the top part to save weight. I will take another look at it and get back to you…

Murray

 

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