Rudder has damaged back of boat, help needed ASAP

   Hi there, 
basically with all the pressure on the rudder it is causing damaged to the back of my contender, i have fitted nuts and washer behind to try and spread the load however some cracks have appeared from the pintle moving outwards and are starting to get worryingly movable when the rudder is fitted and I'm worried the rudder could pull part of the back off if it takes a knock or even a rough sail. 

Got epoxy and plan to file a v into the cracks and drill the ends then epoxy, to get strength back in the rear before remounting pintle for the rudder is this the right thing to do? or will i need fibres as well?

any tips, ideas really would be appreciated as I need to fix this soon, as the back is weak and will only get worse. 

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mattmd Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Posting king Joined: 23 Mar 09 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 151	Post Options Post Reply Quote mattmd Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Rudder has damaged back of boat, help needed ASAP Posted: 21 Jun 12 at 9:20pm
	Hi there, basically with all the pressure on the rudder it is causing damaged to the back of my contender, i have fitted nuts and washer behind to try and spread the load however some cracks have appeared from the pintle moving outwards and are starting to get worryingly movable when the rudder is fitted and I'm worried the rudder could pull part of the back off if it takes a knock or even a rough sail. Got epoxy and plan to file a v into the cracks and drill the ends then epoxy, to get strength back in the rear before remounting pintle for the rudder is this the right thing to do? or will i need fibres as well? any tips, ideas really would be appreciated as I need to fix this soon, as the back is weak and will only get worse.
	Matt MD Contender GBR-620

JimC Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 17 May 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 6662	Post Options Post Reply Quote JimC Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 21 Jun 12 at 9:45pm
	What's the boat made from?

mattmd Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Posting king Joined: 23 Mar 09 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 151	Post Options Post Reply Quote mattmd Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 21 Jun 12 at 9:56pm
	GRP i think late rondar contender hull,
	Matt MD Contender GBR-620

JimC Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 17 May 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 6662	Post Options Post Reply Quote JimC Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 21 Jun 12 at 9:58pm
	Is that cored or solid glass?

mattmd Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Posting king Joined: 23 Mar 09 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 151	Post Options Post Reply Quote mattmd Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 21 Jun 12 at 10:08pm
	not sure my boat number is 620, and is one of the last rondar hull
	Matt MD Contender GBR-620

mongrel Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Far too distracted from work Joined: 27 Aug 08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 304	Post Options Post Reply Quote mongrel Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 22 Jun 12 at 7:01am
	It's probably best not to use epoxy on it, as that boat is probably polyester. Is there room to get into the tank, remove the pintiles & gudgeons, & glass in a plywood pad. This should stiffen the area around the rudder fittings.

Oatsandbeans Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Far too distracted from work Joined: 19 Sep 05 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 382	Post Options Post Reply Quote Oatsandbeans Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 22 Jun 12 at 7:35am
	The plywood pad is a good idea, but I would definitely use epoxy for this. Pre coat the wood and bed it into a thickened mix.

JimC Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Really should get out more Joined: 17 May 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 6662	Post Options Post Reply Quote JimC Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 22 Jun 12 at 9:04am
	I'd want to investigate this quite carefully I think. Doubtless a piece of ply glued on the back would hold it together for months, maybe years, but if the cracks are right into the main structure as opposed to just the gel coat then I think I'd be inclined to do something a bit more sophisticated. I think maybe I'd grind off the gelcoat over the whole affected region anyway just to see what's going on. If turns out to be just the gel coat cracking off round the holes wih a bit of water ingress then a ply pad on the back to spread the loads and new gel coat will be good. That will stop water getting into the laminate and promoting osmosis and so on. If on the other hand the underlying fibres and resin are cracking up then I guess cut back to good over a larger area and new fibre and resin right over the whole area. I'd use epoxy I think, not sure that polyester really sticks well to old polyester.

Rupert Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Really should get out more Joined: 11 Aug 04 Location: Whitefriars sc Online Status: Offline Posts: 8956	Post Options Post Reply Quote Rupert Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 22 Jun 12 at 9:13am
	I'd go for epoxy, too - there won't be any solvents left after all this length of time. Agree with Jim you need to check exactly what is happening to the structure of the transom before proceeding. It might be that Rondar can help by telling you how the transoms were built in the 1st place.
	Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686

mattmd Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Posting king Joined: 23 Mar 09 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 151	Post Options Post Reply Quote mattmd Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 22 Jun 12 at 9:18am
	i can access it from inside to speak right need to the pintle i have a port hole so can get my hand inside to feel the area. Not sure if its the gel coat that has cracked or deeper. How would i check this? Allready have large washers on each bolt to try to spread the load
	Matt MD Contender GBR-620