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Hit Rudder and it pulled through the hull |
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Mikewolf 
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Joined: July-10-2018 Location: Ontario Canada Status: Offline Points: 48 |
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 Topic: Hit Rudder and it pulled through the hullPosted: September-16-2018 at 10:26pm |
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I was out for a quick trip around our small lake yesterday with my wife and kids on our 94 SN and we hit a rock at about 25mph. It was a pretty good jolt and then water started coming up throug the floor. Luckily someone with a pontoon took my family into their boat and towed us as fast as they could to the boat launch. We managed to get it on the ramp before the engine submerged. When we got it on the trailer, I saw that the rudder had been hit but didn’t get damaged, but the rudder port pulled through the hull. I’ll try to get pics up, but is this normal? I would think they would design it so that the rudder snaps off rather than the boat sinking.
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SNobsessed
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Joined: October-21-2007 Location: IA Status: Offline Points: 7102 |
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Posted: September-16-2018 at 10:58pm |
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Amazing that you just clipped rudder & not prop/shaft/strut.
I bet rudder is bent too, but it can be straightened. Are you going to repair the fiberglass yourself? |
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“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
Ben Franklin |
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Mikewolf
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Joined: July-10-2018 Location: Ontario Canada Status: Offline Points: 48 |
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Posted: September-17-2018 at 12:16am |
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I also took out the prop, but missed the strut. I’m considering doing the repair myself. Will definitely be a learning experience though.
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gt40KS
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Joined: August-05-2017 Location: Wichita Kansas Status: Offline Points: 943 |
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Posted: September-17-2018 at 12:51am |
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Wow! Yes, lucky someone was close to help you out. That could have been much worse but glad everyone was safe in the end. Agree with Chris that with a jolt that hard it's likely that the rudder is bent, you may just not be able to see it. Unless you're very confident with fiberglass repair I'd suggest a professional given the stresses, location and as you've witnessed, the possible ramifications of another hull breach.
As far as normal? Both the prop and port are bronze against the relative strength of the fiberglass surrounding it. I'm not sure how weak they would have had to make its shaft to break first instead of the fiberglass, but my guess would be that could have a whole set of problems by itself. |
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JCCI
1995 Ski Nautique GT40 |
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8122pbrainard
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Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41040 |
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Posted: September-17-2018 at 5:59am |
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Mike,
Glad everyone was OK. We'll be waiting on the pictures. Have you considered making an insurance claim?
I feel this would be a major challenge for any engineer to "calculate" the point when the rudder breaks over the point where fiberglass breakage occures. You sure don't want the rudder to break off under normal conditions. 
I highly recommend you check both the shaft and the strut for straightness. You'll know more after you can get a close look at it. |
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KENO
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Joined: June-06-2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 10644 |
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Posted: September-17-2018 at 8:21am |
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Just thought I'd mention the prop shaft as something to check also
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Hollywood
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Joined: February-04-2004 Location: Twin Lakes, WI Status: Offline Points: 13510 |
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Posted: September-17-2018 at 12:12pm |
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Helped repair a similar accident.
Obvious fiberglass work. New prop and shaft. Straigtened strut. Reused rudder and port as is. |
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Mikewolf
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Posted: September-19-2018 at 6:27pm |
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So I’ve started repairing the damage. I cut out the area around the rudder port. I’ve ground around the hole and I’m finding that the layers of fibreglass were never properly laminated together. At first I thought it was from the damage, but I’ve gone well into glass that wasn’t near the damage and it’s still delaminated. This is a boat that has only spent this summer in the water. It lived on a lift in a boathouse it’s whole life. I’m pretty sure this isn’t new as the layers are bone dry, just poorly done. Pretty disappointed since these are supposed to be such a high quality boat.
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8122pbrainard
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Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41040 |
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Posted: September-20-2018 at 11:20am |
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GottaSki
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Joined: April-21-2005 Location: NE CT Status: Offline Points: 3327 |
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Posted: September-20-2018 at 11:43am |
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I suspect if he can fix it, he'll be ahead
Insurance likely just up his rates and get their money back 2x |
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"There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worthwhile as messing around with boats...simply messing."
River Rat to Mole |
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DVskier
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Joined: September-04-2014 Location: Seneca SC Status: Offline Points: 449 |
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Posted: September-20-2018 at 2:48pm |
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I disagree. Hit a stump when the lake was down, sheared the rudder off clean as a whistle. Drifted back over stump, pulled the rudder off and mounted it on the "Wall of Shame". Had to get a new rudder, turns out only one dealer has one and it was 350 miles away. Paid $500 plus labor ($300) and skied the following weekend. Boats aren't cheap to operate. This happened in 2006 BTW.
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Mikewolf
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Posted: September-20-2018 at 5:10pm |
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I’m Not going to bother with insurance. I’m fixing it myself. I am also going to make a new rudder that will break away when I hit the next rock. There’s a lot of unmarked rocks in our lake.
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JoeinNY
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Posted: September-20-2018 at 6:47pm |
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You'll shoot your eye out Kid, you'd be better off adding more floatation, or couple big bilge pumps if you were really worried about it. Any rudder than can snap off during a rock hit without causing other damage can likely snap off during a panic turn possibly causing bad things man... |
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Hollywood
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Posted: September-20-2018 at 7:10pm |
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Rudder is the last thing I want purposely falling off
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Gary S
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Posted: September-20-2018 at 7:17pm |
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Boat wise anyway
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TRBenj
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Posted: September-20-2018 at 7:28pm |
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8122pbrainard
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Posted: September-20-2018 at 7:44pm |
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Mike,
Maybe it would be a good idea to read some of the responses in this thread?
So, you're not bothering with insurance on the repair but how's your liability coverage? |
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SNobsessed
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Joined: October-21-2007 Location: IA Status: Offline Points: 7102 |
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Posted: September-20-2018 at 8:13pm |
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Mike - maybe just add extra strength to the hull around rudder port & use std rudder.
I know all about hitting rocks from boating on the Mississippi during low flow periods, so can relate there. |
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“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
Ben Franklin |
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Mikewolf
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Joined: July-10-2018 Location: Ontario Canada Status: Offline Points: 48 |
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Posted: September-20-2018 at 8:47pm |
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I do plan to reinforce the fibreglass and make it much stronger than original. I’ll sleep on my plan for a new rudder.
And yes I definitely have liability insurance coverage. I’m hoping to avoid any claims at all. |
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Faceplant
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Joined: July-27-2013 Location: Otter Lake , Mi Status: Offline Points: 403 |
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Posted: September-20-2018 at 11:44pm |
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How far did the delamination go ?
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Feels like I am hanging 10 but in reality - probably hanging 6.
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Mikewolf
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Posted: September-21-2018 at 9:24am |
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There are spots where the layers of glass must have been wrinkled and left air pockets everywhere. Even 10” from where the damage was. There is now way these are as a result of the rudder hit.
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Mikewolf wrote: