Building a New Rudder for My Vintage Sail Boat to Replace My 60 year Old Wooden Rudder

Name: Building a New Rudder for My Vintage Sail Boat to Replace My 60 year Old Wooden Rudder
Uploaded: 2026-05-10T23:57:43.000Z
Duration: 24 min 33 s
Description: After striking a submerged container mid-Pacific, James builds a fiberglass-over-plywood rudder in Thailand to finish his circumnavigation.

10. mai 2026 · 24 min · 17K visninger · Thailand

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James, sailing an Alberg 30 named Triteia on a circumnavigation, builds a replacement rudder from scratch at a boatyard in Thailand after the original 61-year-old wooden rudder was damaged in 2021 when the boat struck a suspected submerged shipping container between Los Angeles and Hawaii.1:01 That collision broke the rudder free from the tiller post, forcing a 1,000-mile passage to Hawaii steered by drogue.1:02 Bronze tangs were welded to the tiller shaft in Hawaii as a temporary fix; a haul-out in Langkawi, Malaysia confirmed the original rudder was unfit to complete the circumnavigation.1:17 The build uses a marine plywood core — three-quarter-inch high-quality ply at roughly $175 delivered — traced from the original rudder shape, then reduced to account for fiberglass layup thickness.14:27 James tapers the trailing edge with a grinder before saturating the core with multiple passes of epoxy resin to prevent dry lamination when the fiberglass cloth goes on.20:47 Simultaneously, he removes the original bronze pintles, discovers they were fastened with what appear to be bronze rivets buried under 60 years of bottom paint, and plans to have stainless steel replacements fabricated by a local metalworker called Raleigh Tasker.6:09 A new Beta Marine engine is also being installed during the same refit period.0:20