my boat was such a beater that every bolt on the rudders were bent! i had no choice, put in some fender washers between the blade and tha casting to take out slop because the castings were tweeked out, i made new lock down bolts because they cost 30$ each...i got real familiar with the rudders through the process, which is a good thing. i had to replace the ds rod, mast base and mast step castings because they were sooo worn out, luckily bought them right before the price more than doubled(many casting parts have spiked lately, new that is) and put on new 1/2 ball so i'm good there for a while. one thing i recommend for the paint job is let it cure at least 7 days before assembleing...i got in a hurry and put it together 3 days later and the paint was still gummy...mistake! so make sure to allot the week or so for curing. make sure to remove ALL hardware from the hulls and replace with new ss bolts, might as well. it's also a good time to get new ports and covers($10 each) and go back with ss nuts and bolts insted of wood screw style.i put in the clear port covers so i could see in the hulls w/out taking them off if i'm in some seas(extra $2 each). this will be my 4th season with this boat and i'm still in the process of upgrading/tweeking...i kid with people and tell them if the boat was 6" longer i couldn't afford it!
--
Check out "Prindle Sailors" on Facebook!
bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
--
Prindle Rudder Line Rigging
-
- Rank: Chief
- Registered: Jul 16, 2009
- Last visit: Oct 28, 2014
- Posts: 1271
Posted: Jan 25, 2012 - 10:31 AM
-
- Rank: Mate
- Registered: Oct 11, 2011
- Last visit: May 14, 2014
- Posts: 104
Posted: Jan 30, 2012 - 05:20 PM
In keeping with the theme of a free beach cat isn't....
I borrowed a caliper from my grandfather to compare the size of the rudder blades...which I'll get to in another post. -
I took a look at the 2 rudder castings I have. Port is a replacement STB is original. When I got the boat the port casting was broken in 3-4 pieces. I was told a rudder caught the corner of the garage while moving it around. Upon closer inspection the Stb casting is bowed out at the 3:00 position to nearly 2X the width and it appears to be bent up where the casting meets tiller arm. The tiller cross bar bolts were both bent one worse than the other, and the only delam I've got is in the stern from the crossbar aft. So I assume that someone backed into the cat and forced the rudders apart snapping one casting and bending the other. The crossbar seems to be fine.
I figure the only way to have any hope of a cat that will not have sloppy rudders is to start with 2 true castings and round holes in the tiller arms with straight bolts. So the bent casting is going into the spares pile and a new casting is on order.
Does anyone have a good step by step of rudder repair involving the a pretty large ding on the trailing edge? Saw a good one on youtube w/ a british guy on a lazer but not sure if those steps apply for the west system. He used polyester resign and bondo.
--
Bob Miller
1983 P16 Sail # 7312
"Miller Time" A work in progress; out of the water for 16 years
Barnegat Bay NJ
Beach Cat Lesson #1 - A free cat isn't
Find more Prindles on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/173120656090532/
-- -
- Rank: Chief
- Registered: Apr 19, 2011
- Last visit: Sep 25, 2024
- Posts: 1459
Posted: Jan 31, 2012 - 09:34 AM
Try this on the rudder:
http://solarez.com/uses/surfboards.html
I have used it on rudders, centerboards and sailboards.
Much stronger than the rudder is, and cures hard in 15 minutes in the sun and sands to shape easily. It dries translucent, so you may want to cover it with gelcoat at some point.
If you take the time to match the amount of Solarez you use to the ding exactly and use mylar taped tight (as they demo), you may not have to shape the fix at all. I did an emergency repair on shore with this stuff and was ready to go back out in 15 minutes. In really full sun Solarez hardens in less than 10 minutes.
--
Sheet In!
Bob
_/)_____/)_/)____/)____/)_____/)/)__________/)__
Prindle 18-2 #244 "Wakizashi"
Prindle 16 #3690 "Pegasus" Sold (sigh)
AZ Multihull Fleet 42 member
(Way) Past Commodore of Prindle Fleet 14
Arizona, USA
-- -
- Rank: Mate
- Registered: Jul 06, 2008
- Last visit: Jul 19, 2018
- Posts: 986
Posted: Jan 31, 2012 - 12:40 PM
I just replaced bolt and spring last season. It was a bit of pain to get the springs back on. I just got SS bolts from the hardware store that were a tad longer and cut them off with a dremel cutoff wheel after I got them all together. I use SS / nylon lock nuts. I did not replace the guts yet. Some of the sheaves could stand it but I have a set of new castings that need to have all the guts ordered so I will do that eventually but it' gonna cost me a bit so it will be later.
--
Dustin Finlinson • Magna, UT
Member: Utah Sailing Association
1982 Prindle 18
1986 Hobie 17
1982 Prindle 16
1980 Prindle 16(mostly)
1976 Prindle 16(mostly)
Check out "Prindle Sailors" on Facebook.
--
Users on-line
- 0 users
This list is based on users active over the last 60 minutes.