Sailmaster 22 rudder repair

[Bay Rat]

I picked up a 1965 Sailmaster 22 a few weeks ago for $500. I saw one on the Bay here last summer, fell in love with the boat's lines, and kept my eyes open. I stumbled up one that didn't even have a For Sale sign on it, but that the yard owner wanted to sell, as it'd been sitting on land for 10 years. The boat's mast and boom are in excellent shape, it has a great sail inventory (100%, 125%, 150%, Spinnaker, Main with double reef, and a spnnaker pole--all in excellent shape). The trim is teak. The hull is in excellent condition, as is most of the interior.

The decks from mid-way along the cabin aft, however, need recoring, as does the bridge deck. The tabernackle needs to be repaired or replaced (what an adventure getting those rusty bolts out!). The centerboard is probably stuck in the trunk, but I may just sail ger as a shoal draft this year and deal with that issue next year.

OK--here's my question. The rudder, which appears to be bronze which was glassed over at some point, probably needs to be partially rebuilt. It's kind of flakey/crunchy in the the lower aft quadrant. Has anyone ever repaired one of these rudders? Any ideas?

By the way, I can't find a hull number on this boat, just a builder's plaque.

[Tom Javor]

Sorry I can't help you with the rudder as I still haven't closed on mine - your posting will remind me to look over the rudder on final inspection. You might try googling on "sailmaster 22 centerboard" - there is a fellow in Maine who is doing what sounds to be a fairly extensive restoration - his posts that I've seen hve on other boards deal with the c'bd but he may have encountered the rudder issue.

On my '64 Daysailor there are 2 plaques on the aft wall of the cockpit well; one from the builder and the other from Sailmasters. The hull number is on the builder's plaque, the larger of the two, and is pretty difficult to read. Sounds as if your's is a Weekender version and the Weekenders I looked at had a vent for the engine compartment right where the plaques are on mine

Where are you located? I'm in RI. I envy your sail inventory, luckily I didn't see any areas in need of coring on my 1st inspection.
Wish I had come up with a Weekender - I really like the wooden coamings but the larger cockpit of the Daysailor will prove quite nice when I want to stretch out in the sun on the hook.

And let me be the first to say this - pictures, we want pictures!

Here are the plaques on mine (along with a profile that I haven't posted before - they have such nice lines);

[dee]

Noddy and Tom,

Congrats to both of you on your acquisitions.

Tom, De Noord built very good boats. He produced a drawing for S&S for a change to the center board. I don't know if the daysailer incorporates these changes, but I think it's a safe bet that they do. IIRC the pennant tube exits in the cockpit instead of the cabin. It looks like you have a late Dutch built model.

Noddy, Bummer about the deck. I had core issues around almost everything that mounted through the deck. I drilled exploratory holes and found the damage to extend out one to five inches in some areas so I drilled multiple holes in the area in the top skin only, cleaned the insides out with a bent nail ground like a chisel on the tip and sides. Used a dremmel with a burr bit to clean up, and a chamfer bit to bevel the top glass. Filled all with epoxy and high density fillers and chopped strand using a long tipped cheapo cake decorator set. Filled from the bottom up. Trying the hole thing first might save you a lot of work. I did this in a day.

If the tabernackle is iron through bolted to a steel compression post then I would try to save the tabernackle if possible as they are unique to these boats. You could remove it and have it sandblasted and reinstall it. They are compatible or adaptable to just about any type of mast you may ever need to install. If the bolts need to be replaced, use good quality hot dipped galvanized and paint over them. Don't use stainless.

As to your rudder...originally, the shaft is bronze with some tabs coming off of it. The rudder blade consisted of two pieces that were molded of fiber glass on port / starboard molds, then were filled with a polyester cream and pressed together over the shaft and tabs. without seeing pictures, I'm guessing that yours was damaged probably by going off or on a trailer, or by grounding, The bottom edge of the rudder angles up from the heel fitting at the after end of the keel to limit damage from grounding. I'd say grind away the loose stuff and see what you have. It might have water inside that would need to be drained. Let it drain while you work on other things and reglass when it's ready. Check the heel fitting for damage, and the hull where the shaft goes through as there is a molded piece of glass work there to prevent the shaft / rudder from rising up high enough to allow the shaft to come out of the heel fitting. If the rudder was damaged badly, then there may also be damage there. I think I've seen a post on this site with photos of a total rudder rebuild that someone who has search skills can direct you to.

I'm off to prepare my hull, #78, for installing quarter berths that I made for it using what was left of the originals as a guide.

dee

[Rachel]

Dee,

Your description of the rudder sounds like the way DeVries Lentsch built the Meridian rudder. Charlie J and his wife, Laura, rebuilt their rudder (it wasn't actually damaged, I don't think, but more just that they wanted to check the metal inside).

What they did (with rudder off boat) was to split the rudder open so that they had two halves (port and starboard). Inside was just as your described, and I think it came apart pretty easily due to the lighter filler inside.

Their bronze was in excellent shape, so they just cleaned out any loose filler, refilled with some new thickened epoxy (forget exactly which mix), and put the two halves back together. Then they added fiberglass tape around the seam for reinforcement. It was a relatively easy, quick job with the rudder out.

If someone would like to see the process, I believe I could lay my hands on photos of it and post them here -- or at least a link to them.

Rachel

[dee]

Your description of the rudder sounds like the way DeVries Lentsch built the Meridian rudder.

I think it was and still is common practice to mold as many parts as possible. Today the fillers are better though. I believe it's good to sand around the seam and look for wet spots and if none are found then wrap the edge with 10 oz. cloth and fare it. If water is present then a rebuild is in order.

My rudder has a trailing edge thats about 5/8 " thick and rather bull nose looking. I'm thinking about extending it with foam to a finer exit profile and glassing it along with a little extra glass on the bottom edge. (lots of shallow water around here).


dee

[Bay Rat]

Does anyone know just how the rudders on the Dutch built Sailmasters were constructed? Mine appears to be a bronze blade of sorts covered with glass--which I think was done later. I need to repair or rebuild it, as the lower read quadrant is somewhat corroded.

SHould I bother to remove the whole rudder assembly to check the post? the boat is 45 years old, but has been on land ten years. Can I assume the post is fine? Removing it means going through the hassle of removing the shoe and digging a hole to drop the rudder into. I don't mind digging the whole, but I am worried about stripping the 4 screw bolts fastening the shoe, and then problems dislodging and refastening the shoe itself.

Has anyone done this on a SAilmaster or a similar set-up? The post looks all right from the top, and there's no play in the bost between the hull/rudder tube and the shoe. However, the ruder itself is obviously corroded at points.

[Hirilondë]

Does anyone know just how the rudders on the Dutch built Sailmasters were constructed? Mine appears to be a bronze blade of sorts covered with glass--which I think was done later. I need to repair or rebuild it, as the lower read quadrant is somewhat corroded.

What is a lower read quadrant? In regards to rudders I think of a quadrant as being where the cables for wheel steering lead to turn the rudder.

For the life of me, I can't come up with a reason why anyone would glass over a bronze rudder blade. You say it appears to be a bronze blade of sorts. I can't grasp what this means. At this point you don't know if that is what you have? Unless some one knows for sure what you have and can explain, pictures at least will be required for most of us to make any evaluation or suggestions. And even then, you may need to do some removal of this glass to see what is going on.

[dee]

Does anyone know just how the rudders on the Dutch built Sailmasters were constructed?

Yes, read the next quote.

As to your rudder...originally, the shaft is bronze with some tabs coming off of it. The rudder blade consisted of two pieces that were molded of fiber glass on port / starboard molds, then were filled with a polyester cream and pressed together over the shaft and tabs. without seeing pictures, I'm guessing that yours was damaged probably by going off or on a trailer, or by grounding, The bottom edge of the rudder angles up from the heel fitting at the after end of the keel to limit damage from grounding. I'd say grind away the loose stuff and see what you have.

Has anyone done this on a SAilmaster or a similar set-up?

Yes.

If you have a bronze rudder... it is not original, as far as I have ever heard. The originals were built as described above. You can try to loosen the machine screws in the heel fitting using a screw driver with a tip that fits properly. If they strip or break then drill them out to remove the fitting. My Sailmaster is 47 years young and the fitting was removed with a good fit screw driver as just described.

Can I assume the post is fine? Removing it means going through the hassle of removing the shoe and digging a hole to drop the rudder into.

Assume nothing. The real hassle happens when your rudder falls off in a noreaster while crossing the Pamlico close hauled.

Its difficult to diagnose without seeing some photos.


dee