Rudder damage

[Ziffius]

  just dinged my rudder on a rock, Bav 39 2006. Anyone know how they are constructed and do they float. Looks like I might get some help to drop the rudder in the water and have it repaired rather than hauling out and then in again.

[Vinnie45]

I damaged my rudder and ordered a new one from the bavaria factory . They mailed it to me and it fit perfectly .

[Ziffius]

Wow, took me a month to get an answer to  a simple question from Bavaria. How much did they charge you for it?

[Ripster]

Wow, took me a month to get an answer to  a simple question from Bavaria. How much did they charge you for it?

Sorry a bit of fred drift but, at least you got an answer.  I wrote to the factory technical guys asking what material the skin fittings, ball valves and tails are made of on my relatively new 36C and never even got a reply.  I now know they are plated brass (ie not DZR) and will need to be changed soon as they are not recommended for long term exposure to Salt Water. 

[Ziffius]

@Ripster, yeh I changed the heads valves when I bought the boat at 7 years old, will have to consider all the smaller ones soon.
Update to rudder damage - it dropped straight out and is really heavy with neutral buoyancy - might be as a result of water ingress however, the damage was a lot smaller than those photos indicated. A third party used my camera to take the pics and he must have been up really close. The comment from the boat builder when he saw it come out of the water was that most of the boats in the marina have worse damage to their rudders. Going to be interesting refitting rudder, shame there is no bolt hole at top of post to feed a mousing line through.

[Vinnie45]

It cost me $2200 Us

[Ziffius]

Ouch to $2200 but I can see why it cost a lot.

[njsail]

I changed all the seacocks and thru-hulls out about 3+ years ago.  I couldn't get a response on what the heck they were made, the surveyor didn't even know and the handles were steel and rusted.  Who makes ocean going boats with steel ball valve handles that will rust?  I never could understand that choice. Anyway....everything is brass below the water line and I feel much better.  like has been said above....it isn't a cheap upgrade but I personally wanted to do it.  I probably had no need to upgrade but the rusted handles always bothered me and now they are clean brass and turn easy.  Either way...It is a great boat....just made a little better with upgrades.   Isn't that what boat owners do?  We maintain and upgrade, polish, clean, and fix things.  ....Boat ownership is fun. 

[Salty]

The rudders have a glass fibre skin and are essentially of hollow construction, though they may be filled with foam. Someone I used to know had a split in the rudder of his Bav 47 (ish), not exactly sure of the size of the boat. He did a DIY repair with some GRP while the boat was ashore one winter! and it seemed to do the trick. I'd prefer to have such repair done by a professional. Last I saw his boat was still in use.

[Ziffius]

 
Rudder came back repaired and the lads managed to refit in the water.
The rudder was definitely more buoyant having shed water from inside. The repairer said it is really well made compared to a lot of boats he works on like beneteaus. That said he said it will need further draining and filling at end of season as it had a hairline crack from before so was well full of water.