J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Draining the rudder

I pulled the rudder off Rhapsody and brought it home for the winter to see if it was wet, and dry it out. I drilled two 1/4 inch holes about 4 inches into the core from the bottom. All I got was dry balsa sawdust once I got through the fiberglass. There is no sign of the rudder splitting or cracking anywhere.

I assume this means I have a dry rudder, can fill the holes now and won't gain anything by letting it air out until I'm ready to launch in the spring. Can anyone with experience in this area confirm this?

I am actually doing the same thing because I know I have water in my rudder. I talked to a guy with an Olsen 40 who actually cut a 2 inch hole in his rudder and put a wet/dry vacuum on it. He drained nearly 3 gallons of water out his rudder. He left it alone for six months afterwards with the hole still in it and sealed it up in the spring with no problems.

By the way what is the class weight on the rudder? I am trying to dry mine out and cut some of the "fat" out of it.

HHSA
Velocity Girl

The first year I had Quicksilver I pulled the rudder to deal with some cracking on the leading edge below the tiller and above the waterline. It turned out to be pretty wet all the way through. It spent the winter next to a heater and was repaired in the spring.

Although it sounds like your's is in good shape, I would check the area around the tiller bolt and also pull the gudgen (pintle?) bolts to check that as well. While it is out of the water, it would not hurt to seal all the fastener holes with epoxy and re-bed everything.

Steve
Quicksilver #344