Rudder: ’85 vs ’80

Hello,

The good news is I found a rudder for my 80 SN. I am still curious if an 85 rudder is the same as the 80. So if by chance you know when they changed them and what fits what post it here. It's one of those things you don't think about until you need a rudder.

This is fun being the only to post to my post. It's like having a conversation with yourself.

Vince
Cape Cod CC

Thanks ccskier16,

I feel better already. We are now up to 3 post counting this one. Your right someone that knows this vintage will chime in.

Vince

Hey jbear,

When I bought the boat it had been repaired, perhaps someone had previously hit the rudder. I can only assume that the rudder came off the shaft. What they did for the repair was drill two holes through the rudder and the shaft from front to back at an angle one on top of the other (see pictures for detail). Then they inserted two screws with locking nuts.

A pretty interesting repair that has held up just fine and I have turned the boat very hard a few times with no problems. I believe the previous owner used it for a few years this way as well. However I am a bit nervous that the repair could fail so I purchased a replacement rudder and will be installing it. Has anyone else seen a rudder come off of the shaft before? If this is ever a problem for anyone, this is a reasonable repair to keep you going until you can get a replacement rudder.

Vince