Rudder blade repaire

Depends a little on what the blade is made of.

The repair needs a reasonble area to stick to, so if a solid wooden blade, chamfer the join, if a foam/glass or carbon blade, hollow out so the the repair can stick to the inside of the skin.

For small chips, I normally use a bit of west mixed with chopped glass fibres, for larger ( >1cm? ) use a scrap of glass cloth. In either case try to get the fibres inside the skin somewhat in a foam core foil.

Use cardboard wrapped in polythene or packing tape to hold one side in shape.

Warm the epoxy gently with a hot air gun, makes it flow well and set quicker.

When hard, file to shape then progressively fine grades of wet sanding. If any hollows remain, fill with west and glass bubble /other filler powder mixture.

Sand as above and repeat until it's nearly time to go sailing!

Finish with solvol autosol (a coarse polish) followed by farecla or tcut (fine polish).

Wax with car polish helps weed slide off, also helps crew slide off centreboards!

For small dings, araldite plus filler powder can be used, easier to mix in small quantities. Warm with air gun to a useable viscosity.

I suggest disposable polythene gloves, I usually use barrier cream as well.

Hope that helps?

I think the west/gougeon website has some good info. Also try googling bluegee who flog repair kits?