Rudder lower pivot mounting - reinforce options

Jaguar 25

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14 Nov 2012
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I have some stress cracking coming from behind the lower pivot bracket of the rudder going towards the cockpit drain skin fittings on each side of the bracket.

I am proposing to remove the bracket and fit a 5mm thick 316 ss plate each side, located by the mounting bolts and sikaflexed into place.

Option 1, Ideally, I would make the plate long enough to cover each side of the drain outlets but feel that removing and probably needing to renew them could be problematic with regard to resealing with an additional two potential leak paths. Also, the reinforcing plate on the inside would have to be shorter as the surface is uneven around the skin fittings.

Option 2, I could remove the skin fittings, glass in the holes and make a plate to cover the now filled in holes with new skin fittings cut in each side.

Option 3, I could leave the skin fittings untouched and make the plate just fit in between them.

I am currently favouring Option 3.

Any thoughts?
 
Perhaps better to glass in a ply pad on the inside to beef up the transom and make good the cracks on the outside.
 
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