looking for an affordable rudder maker for my 22ft yacht

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woozy-UK

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I ran aground about a month ago. lost most of the rudder when we were towed off the mud flats. its been almost impossible to get info on the dimensions. finally received a template from another owner of an Intro 22. someone at the club i am with made one by eye going from the photos and rough dimensions i had beforehand, but hes making it out of the less than desirable softwood and sheathing it with resin and glass also the rudder is about a foot too short length and height wise

id like someone to make one from proper marine ply / hardwood. the cheapest I have found was £600-700. way beyond my budget and is a quarter of what i paid for the whole yacht (still paying)

if anyone knows of someone that can make a rudder for me for around £200 please let me know

appreciated
 
woozy-uk,

I'm afraid it's probably going to cost at least that in materials, before the maker gets anything for their trouble !

You have the shape, could you make it in alloy like an aircraft wing, with internal formers and alloy skin ?

Or as above but in wood, the skin being epoxy treated ply.

These would be strong and light, but to get them I really feel you're going to have to make it yourself; just because the boat came cheap it doesn't follow everything else will, though I do appreciate finances are tight.

Might be a good learning experience for you and you'd end up with a performance enhancing result.

My Anderson 22 has a solid iroko rudder which is good and strong but a hollow shape would be lighter and keep weight off the stern; I suspect a piece of solid wood like that would be eye-wateringly expensive nowadays anyway.
 
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woozy-UK said:
I ran aground about a month ago. lost most of the rudder when we were towed off the mud flats. its been almost impossible to get info on the dimensions. finally received a template from another owner of an Intro 22. someone at the club i am with made one by eye going from the photos and rough dimensions i had beforehand, but hes making it out of the less than desirable softwood and sheathing it with resin and glass also the rudder is about a foot too short length and height wise

id like someone to make one from proper marine ply / hardwood. the cheapest I have found was £600-700. way beyond my budget and is a quarter of what i paid for the whole yacht (still paying)

if anyone knows of someone that can make a rudder for me for around £200 please let me know

appreciated
Click to expand...

Only you can. And just think of how much you'll learn.
 
I agree with the others - make it yourself. Another idea, use surfboard construction. Buy a sheet of Kingspan polurethane foam insulation half the thickness of your rudder. Stick two pieces together using double sided tape, then carve it to shape using simple hand tools, very easily done. Now separate the two halves and lay up GRP on each. Cut away the internal parts where the tangs fit. Glass in some battens in these areas and screw the tangs to them. Lay up some more GRP over the tangs. Take the aluminium off the Kingspan, pour filled resin inside the half with the tangs on and stick the other half on top. Lay up another layer of GRP over the whole thing and finish off with flowcoat.

With some pre-planning I believe you could do the job in a weekend, at less than your £200 estimate.
 
all seems way beyond my incapable hands. im not good at DIY, the most i can put together is computers.

but the rudder (when i had one) was very heavy to move so a foam one would be nicer.

this is what the original looked like. it was made from layered marine ply

423971_10200767199198389_1870577061_n.jpgfrP3HS4.jpg
 
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I had to replace the rudder on our similar sized Trapper last year.

Other owners warned me off after their trials of using self assembled plywood and indeed sheathed softwood rudders.
Plywood will flex and eventually shear off at the water line. Softwood without any form of stiffening with hard wood varieties will be just too bendy and eventually the sheathing will part company from the base and will shear as above.

I would be concerned as the likely failure of both types will be when you most need it and could result in loss of boat or even worse life!

I am very happy with the new blade that was made for me. http://www.tonymackillican.co.uk/

The up to date profiling and stiffness has transformed the control of the boat especially in downwind surfing conditions for which your Intro is capable and which fully test the stiffness and strength of your rudder.

I totally understand your wish to only spend a third of what you have been quoted but think you are crazy to scrimp on replacing your rudder.
Consider the value of your yacht as zero if you cant use it as it was designed or without significant increased risk of failure.

Our insurance company had no issues with replacing under similar circumstances to your loss for about the amount of excess that you can afford.
 
woozy-UK said:
all seems way beyond my incapable hands. im not good at DIY, the most i can put together is computers.

but the rudder (when i had one) was very heavy to move so a foam one would be nicer.

this is what the original looked like. it was made from layered marine ply

You dont say where you are so its difficult to suggest any one to fabricate one. If you get suitable fittings first perhaps a local woodworking shop would do the woodwork .. but you would have to ensure they use waterproof glue and stainless fastenings.

An idea of the type of construction that may be suitable in the pictures below. Basically only three pieces of wood. although the blade shape has been modified from original to something similar to yours.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f337/Vic43/SWOA/DSCF0765.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f337/Vic43/SWOA/DSCF0771.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f337/Vic43/SWOA/DSCF0770.jpg
Click to expand...
 
thanks

i believe the intro rudder is deeper due to the lean the intro is capable of. i had it at 40 degrees before i bottled it. so a long rudder is needed. but yeah the sonata was based off the intro i have been told
 
My first rudder blade broke in the surf on the Dyfi bar. The replacement was made with an hardwood core with long carbon fibre reinforcement under woven rovings and then some chopped strand mat and finally gel-coat. The advantage was that it was covered by insurance and the boatbuilders had the original mould.
Vyv's suggestion of making up a mould is probably the best - but you have two important factors to consider - the amount of balancing area in front of the rudder CofE and the depth of the rudder. The former is probably the more important and needs careful calculation. Designing the replacement is a far more challenging task than making it.
At the cost you're prepared to consider no-one could make a suitable replacement for you, so for the theory refer to C A Marchaj, this link will help you:- www.amazon.com/C.-A.-Marchaj/e/B000APT5NS

Unfortunately his two early books "Sailing Theory and Practice" and "Aero-Hydrodynamics of Siling" which will give you theoretical basis appear to be out of print. Probably best to get them from your local library.
 
My carpentry skills are rudimentary, my GRP and fabrication skills non-existent, so if I had to DIY this I think I'd try sourcing a suitably-sized recycled piece of hardwood (lab bench, bar top, church pew, etc) then saw and plane it to the right size and profile before finishing with some poxy and a few coats of primer and paint. Re-use fittings from the old rudder.

Why recycled? Less likely to warp than new timber, and probably cheaper.
 
TK beat me to it but for £200 you can buy a power plane and a scaffold board and get planing
It doesn't have to be the exact same as the original, that is just wishful thinking right now...

Actually you can glue a bit of extra scaffold board on the front edge, the 'balance area' of the original. Then fit the mountings and go try it, bare wood and all.. And add/cut off a bit until it has a nice balance and feel
THEN at some stage dry it out and wrap some grp around it
So, £50 and you make the effort . Plus a internet powerplane.
Just think what you will learn.
 
I think if I was doing it in wood I would do it with a spokeshave. Ever since I made my first solid guitar at age about 15 I have loved using a spokeshave. Whereas planing is just hard work there is a certain artistry about spokeshaving that is sheer pleasure.
 
vyv_cox said:
I think if I was doing it in wood I would do it with a spokeshave. Ever since I made my first solid guitar at age about 15 I have loved using a spokeshave. Whereas planing is just hard work there is a certain artistry about spokeshaving that is sheer pleasure.
Click to expand...

Plus "spokeshave" is a lovely word.
 
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