J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Rudder Rebuild

Koos - nice blog. Were the mounting holes for the rudder hardware sealed before and just the tiller pivot where water came in?

Looking forward to seeing you out on NB this year!

In my opinion the wet balsa has got to go if it's really wet and starting to rot (it's rotten when it dark brown/black and smells). The rudder is just going to flex and further the problem. If it's wet and the balsa is still white and structurally strong than dry it out like kooslouw did and you should be fine. If the balsa is dry then drill out the holes for the hardware and fill the holes with epoxy/collidical silca, cure and redrill.

Anyone have any other thoughts?

Bill, the mounting holes were not sealed. Surprisingly, the balsa below the waterline was dry as evident from the 62lbs weight. Only the hardwood areas around the hardware mounting holes were affected. Injecting CPES followed by epoxy and lastly filling the mounting holes with epoxy/colloidal silica should do the job and add another 30yrs to the life of the rudder.