Any experience of antifouling a Hydrovane rudder?

[Goldie]

We haven't antifouled the Hydrovane rudder before - we've tended to use it on passage and then remove, clean and store it. This year we expect to have it in the water for longer periods and are considering applying antifouling. Does anyone have experience of antifouling these rudders? Is it a viable plan? Do they need priming first? Any hints, tips and personal experiences would be much appreciated.

Unlike the Monitor and Aries (and probably others) of course, the Hydrovane can't be swung up from on deck.

Thank you.

 

[richardh10]

We haven’t bothered antifouling ours. We have a ladder at the stern so it is reasonably easy to take it off, give it a quick rub down and put it back. A guy in the same marina antifouled his, and it made a right mess when he took it off to get it on board - it was on his hands, clothes everywhere!

 

[alteredoutlook]

if you antifoul your rudder and then subsequently take it off and store it (say) in your cockpit locker it can leave lots of antifoul marks in your cockpit every time you take it out and you accidently bump it around...........

 

[Goldie]

Both, thanks for the comments on making a mess in storage but SWMBO is planning to sew up a suitably shaped bag to drop it straight in to.

richardh10: We don't have stern access so it's a dinghy job every time unfortunately - which is why we're considering leaving it in the water more. You have reminded me though, that looking at creating stern access is on my jobs list - thanks!

 

[temptress]

When I had a hydrovane we kept it in the water. I used the same antifouling paint that I used in the rest of the boat. First though i cleaned the hydrovane rudder put on 2 coats of epoxy primer the a cost of international undercoat (while the epoxy was still tacky) then antifouling. Was good 10 years later when we sold the boat. I re applied antifouling to the hydrovane as I did the rest of the boat.

 

[Kelpie]

Why not use a hard AF?

 

[dave_gibsea]

Coppercoat??

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I sheathed mine in copper sheet worked reasonably well, before that I had anti fouled it and it does make a mess of everything. One thing to be aware of if you leave it in place permanently, it changes your boat handling characteristics when going astern.

 

[wully1]

Why not use a hard AF?

Thats what I thought of doing to mine but it was so easy just to remove it and store below I didn’t bother.

 

[KellysEye]

I used to antifoul our Hydrove rudder, no reason not to. Ours was left attached for six and half years and 8 years with the previous ownwer

 

[Goldie]

Thanks very much all, some useful experiences and suggestions there.

I'm quite tempted by the Coppercoat idea (thanks dave_gibsea) for two reasons; firstly it's less likely to make a mess hauling aboard than a/f and secondly, it would be a useful trial as Coppercoating the hull is something we're considering anyway.

Thanks once again.