[quote=bradinjax][quote=kitesurfer2]Thanks Brad. my rudder castings need that support welded before they crack. replacement parts are few it seems. the clamp on the tiller arm is shot on one side and probably weak on the other. I need to replace the mast head too...a big hole in the water to put money in :)[/quote]
Yes, the castings are no longer available so repair or replace is your only option. I have a great aluminum welder in St Augustine that put a 1" bar from top to bottom on both sides of both castings for 50 bucks or so. That was the repair Hans suggested. I also have a fiberglass guy with 40+ years experience if you need fiberglass/gelcoat work.
There is another important known point of weakness on g-cats: There is a rod with a hole in it that is captured by the overhanging lip at the joint between the hull and the deck that the side stays are attached to. In the older boats it was only 4" long. Hans strongly recommends getting at least a 8" rod maybe even a 12" rod made to better distribute the force. I learned this the hard way when the shorter rod pulled through ripping a large part of the deck off which caused a dis-mast and a difficult fiberglass repair job.
If you see a cat with a black main sail anywhere between Julington Creek and Downtown.... thats me. I usually sail evenings and weekends 2-3 times a week. I also do events occasionally with the Rudder Club.
Brad[/quote]
No HTML tags allowed (except inside [code][/code] tags)
