Attempt at Rudder Repair

Basically I took a mold of the good rudder. and I drilled some holes in the broken one. I'm going to make my special cocktail of impossibly amazing filler which consists of milled glass, hot resin, and bondo kitty hair with out the hardener. I will put a little bit of my mix in the bottom of the hole then drop a 3" screw in each one then continue to fill the hole. I will then fill the mold with the cocktail (after a good coat of release agent and crisco) and press it onto the broken rudder. When it cures and I pop the mold off I should have something close to the original shape that can withstand the stress of sailing. Updates once I find my milled glass and go buy some kittyhair.

Good luck - I've never seen anybody get a good, solid repair on Lexan rudders. The stuff is like Teflon - nothing sticks to it.

Yea no point in trying to fix those rudders. Where are you? I will give you a pair, or coming hot off the bench I got two sets of Epos, but you will have to pay for those.

Lake City, FL

What are these EPO's i keep reading about? How much better are they than ''normal'' rudders?

I just want to sail the thing so if you have a pair you're willing to let go cheap I'm down.

Yea real cheap. You just pay shipping. Whats your email?

CBFryman AT hotmail.com

I really appreciate it.

EPO Rudders are epoxy/foam core/fiberglass rudders made in the period '83-'88 when Coleman Co. owned Hobie Cat (they were actually manufactured by another company owned by Coleman).

When Coleman sold Hobie Cat in late 1988, the EPO's went out of production.

Original EPO's were thicker, lighter and stiffer than any rudder ever made. They make a noticeable difference in performance and handling. They are still in demand by top racers who will pay 100's of dollars for a set in good condition. Unfortunately, most have seen too much sun and the outer finish has deteriorated.

A few years ago, Hobie Cat digitized the original EPO foil shape, faired it and started producing EPO2 rudders in polyester, carbon and kevlar/carbon. These are the next best thing to original EPO's - but pricey at over $200 each.

I saw polyester EPO's for like $140 each in the Hobie catalog. I about flipped when I though I was going to have to pay that for a new set of rudders. lol.

Couldnt someone with a little physics knowledge to form the foil make a set or rudders out of glass with some vacume baging equiptment like the EPO's or is that agianst racing rules? You can tell I'm a hobie noob.

Making your own rudders is not against the rules - at least for the 14 and 16.

However, the time, effort and equipment required to build rudders of equivalent quality to the original EPO's is far beyond the average "basement builder's" skill or pocketbook.

Until you've seen / used EPO's, you can't appreciate the level of technology that went into them, nor the difference they make in the way the boat feels/steers. They weigh less than half of what your rudders do - and they have zero flex.

Unless you're willing to commit 100's of $ into tooling and equipment, you can't produce anything close to them yourself.

I'll look into them in the future. For now I just want to get out and learn to fly the hull. I'm so irritated today. Winds are probably a consistant 10-15knts with 15-20knt gusts from a strom front that just rolled through. High of 85 and I get off of work in 2hrs but I cant go out because of the rudders.

I may throw the sunfish in the back of the truck and try not to capsize.