Leaking Rudder

[tckearney]

Hi All,  I have removed my rudder on my 2000 B42 in order to service the lower bearing.   The rudder does have considerable water inside it.    I have laid the rudder on its side for a few weeks and slowly some water has dripped away via the top entry where the rudder stock enters the rudder.  .  I then turned it upside down resting it on the aluminium rudder shaft and yet more water slowly dripped out.   However the water has now stopped dripping, but by shaking the rudder around you can still hear that water is inside.  It appears to be at the normal lower point of the rudder.   There are no signs of any damage or splitting on the rudder itself. but some pitting around the aluminium shaft as it enters the rudder top end.   Anybody no how the rudders look inside and why I seem to have water in the botton end of the rudder even with it upside down?

[tiger79]

You can download a diagram of the construction of the rudder from the Jefa website.

ftp://ftp.jefa.com/old_boat_spare_parts/Bavaria/Bavaria42O_E42_1999-2001/B42_Ocean_type_E42-1999.pdf

[Yngmar]

That seems to be fairly typical of the rudders at the time. Mine (2001 40 Ocean) had similar issues. The water got in at the top where the rudder post is surrounded by GRP. The rudders at the time were not built by Jefa, but by JP3 - beware of blindly relying on the Jefa plans, which are nice and correct for their replacement rudders, but do not necessarily correspond to the JP3 manufactured original rudders, at least not exactly. This mistake has cost me an extra week in the boatyard plus several hundred quid.

The best way to dry out the rudder is to put it upright, drill a hole or three in the bottommost part of the GRP and let the water drain out over a week. Upon doing so, I discovered evidence of previous drain holes. Shelter it from rain. Once reasonable dry (you'll never get all the water out as the rudder is filled with foam), seal the holes with some thickened epoxy, or if you like glass it. Mine also started blistering after being laid on the side (no blisters were apparent before it was dropped), so I repaired that as well and finally gave it two coats of Interprotect.

Then, and that's the important part, grab a Dremel and cut an angled groove into the GRP, all around the post. Clean it out with acetone and then fill a flexible sealant (Sikaflex 291i or 3M 5200) into the groove, to prevent future water ingress. This is also what Jefa recommends (their new rudders already have it in place): ftp://ftp.jefa.com/rudder/maintenance/Rudder_blade_anti_fouling_instructions.pdf

This is how Jefa makes their rudders now. Interesting to watch in any case: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqBXDuI5NzY

[tckearney]

Excellent thank you very much I will follow your instructions.  Most helpful you certainly seem to know what you are doing here

[patprice]

Tiger 79
I was not aware of that jefa site so thanks.

My 1999 B42 is a BAVG42 and the rudder is likely the one below.

ftp://ftp.jefa.com/old_boat_spare_parts/Bavaria/Bavaria42_G42/B42AC_type_G42_1999-2001.pdf

Cheers

Pat