So, there I was about to spend a beautiful day on the bay sailing around Angel Island. I felt my tiller go slack when I looked back my rudder was broken in half above the water line. Had this happened in view of the Golden Gate this would have been a nightmare. Luckily I was still behind the protected waters at Richmond.
I'm sure all you old dogs know, but for those that don't, take thirty seconds for a quick inspection of your rudder and tiller. I could save you a tow and a fresh set of under garments. Lucky for me I was there with the Soule's for backup had I needed a rescue.
At least you got out. Arrived home from church with a sunny sky, 70* temp, and 10mph S\W winds. I should be out sailing. Instead I'm in the garage oiling teak & working on an outboard.
Is this one of the white plastic rudders that broke? I have one of those and I found some cracks which may still turn into a broken rudder even though I reinforced the area with stainless steel. I also shortened the blade by about 7 inches to reduce the load and leverage on the rudder cheeks. My old wooden rudder was much smaller than the plastic one and it still worked fine.
I considered joining all of you for a sailing afternoon yesterday until I looked at the currents, If you had gone out to Angel Island (leaving a noon as the Soule's suggested) getting back would have been a struggle in a Potterthumbnail.jpg.
A -1.5 low tide at 5:35 PM would have meant a strong ebb current by 3PM.
I ended up wasting the entire day going to look at a VW camper I saw on Craigslist that turned out to be leaking oil like the Exxon Valdez. Should have gone sailing instead for sure, though I think I would have done a circumnavigation of Red Rock instead of Angel Island.
Good luck with your rudder repair/replacement. I hope you find more affordable options than I have seen.
Dave Kautz
It was the large plastic kick up rudder.
Ruddercraft rudders have a long history of breaking.
Well dang, for a thousand dollars you would hope for better than that.
The wooden rudder that was on my old '87 P -15 had plywood cheeks and a solid mahogany blade. Needed fresh varnish every other year or so but never gave me any trouble. It was a lot lighter too. Maybe building a copy of that rudder would be a good Winter project.......
The tide wasn't really an issue. The absolute lack of wind around the south and west side of the island was, though. We ended up motoring around to Point Blunt where the wind picked up very nicely again. The best sailing Saturday was between the Richmond/Berkeley area and Angel Island--and that was really good!
We were sorry to leave Tony behind, but glad that he was able to make it back in okay.
Glad to see this posted, sorry for your luck OP, have been considering a purchase. See they also offer a, "blue water" version, beefier.
I just like it folding up out of the way. Current came with it rudder I can see it being a pain getting out of the marina under power. (folds to level, tight marina with limited depth)
Quote from: Wolverine on Nov 09, 2025, 03:14 PMAt least you got out. Arrived home from church with a sunny sky, 70* temp, and 10mph S\W winds. I should be out sailing. Instead I'm in the garage oiling teak & working on an outboard.
Ok ok, I'm a little late to respond... Tony called me and we chatted about his rudder fun and games. Meanwhile, I'm just catching up on the forum. I got such a kick out of the nature of this response to him.
Tony reports equipment failure that could've led to [gasp] him being shipwrecked on Alcatraz... And what's the first reply? Envy!
Reminds me of something... Ah right: Life of Brian dungeon scene (https://youtu.be/zPi76KvQF1g?si=GMY18KFc-RoBAxlD).
-Gary
A bad day sailing is still better than a good day working.
Quote from: Tbrock on Nov 09, 2025, 02:46 PMmy rudder was broken in half above the water line.
Quote from: Dave K - SF Bay on Nov 09, 2025, 09:48 PMIs this one of the white plastic rudders that broke? I have one of those and I found some cracks which may still turn into a broken rudder even though I reinforced the area with stainless steel.thumbnail.jpg.
.....
Dave Kautz
Can you guys give more info and/or pics on how this failed/is failing and how you reinforced?
Thanks
Quote from: Dave K - SF Bay on Nov 09, 2025, 09:48 PMI ended up wasting the entire day going to look at a VW camper I saw on Craigslist that turned out to be leaking oil like the Exxon Valdez. Should have gone sailing instead for sure, ......Dave Kautz
If helpful - I know a lot about those VW Campers and have a few so happy to answer question. Get in touch if you keep looking. I'm vanis13 on this VW forum https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewforum.php?f=20