Thanks Derek for the additional info. I set my boat up on the launching trolley, bows down, the other weekend so I could examine the source of movement in the rudders when locked down. Front to back movement was minimal, with the locking mechanism holding the blades against new padding I recently fi...

Thanks Bob. Perhaps I'll leave well alone then.

My tiller extension has the rubber universal joint, and the conrod has plastic ends. I suspect both have been replaced by previous owners. The rudders go up and down and generally stay in either position. All told - I can't complain.

There’s a fair amount of play in my overall rudder mechanism. Coming from the precise and smooth steering on my RS600 this feels cumbersome and slow, especially downwind in moderate to high winds when load on rudders can shift with gusts and waves. Constant but perceptible movement is distracting, a...

Sail No: 1488 Current Owner: David Ball Type: Monaco Name: "That was close!" Home Club: Marconi SC I purchased this boat second hand in June 2006 from a sailor at Cardiff Bay. The sail number and colour scheme suggest it was built in 1989. A new trampoline and larger diameter tracks were p...

Congratulations to the Sprint 15 sailors at today's East Coast Piers Race. On the shorter course (Colne Point Race) Sprint 15's did the class proud taking 5 of the top 10 places: 1st Jenny Ball Marconi SC 2nd James Tovey Marconi SC 3rd Kevin Dowley Marconi SC 4th Andrew Chidwick Marconi SC 7th Keith...

I'll second that. Steve worked wonders with my boat last winter. Highly recommended and good value. I understand his renovations and repairs are in great demand each winter, so book early to avoid disappointment. You won't regret it. I promise I'm not on commission :D I'm just a happy customer who s...

8 years - that will have been pretty dry then

It sounds like I was lucky the split was lower down the blade and not too long.

Hope you're repair works out.

Cheers
David

I did a similar repair to one of my rudder blades last June and so far it has held up well. In my case, the split ran from the tip of the rudder to approx 1/3 up the leading edge. The repair I did sounds very much like what you have already tried. I took epoxy resin and, opening the crack gently wit...

Just got the tiller arms back from Fine Limit Welding: 10, Britannia Court, Basildon, Essex SS13 1EU Tel: 01268 725988 finelimitwelding@blueyonder.co.uk The man behind the show is Martin Harrison. The cost was £25+vat to get both port and starboard arms re-welded. The final result looks tidy, though...

I dropped the tiller arms off with a welder in Pitsea yesterday. The job should be done by the end of the week so I'll report back on the end result then.

When I purchased my boat last year it had a tear in the trampoline in exactly the position you describe. Perhaps the close proximity of the not-so-stretchy diagonal seam and the edge of tramp results in a lack of ‘give’ in that area. I know I often put my knee of foot down on that part of the tramp ...

Thanks Martin and George for the useful info. There are a couple of listings the local Yellow Pages who specifically mention aluminium welding. I'll give one a try. Thankfully, the crack is small and so the tiller arm is intact and its shape not distorted (yet). I'll make up a template before the jo...

On my port tiller arm, I have just noticed a crack in the weld on the underside of the elbow. Applying gentle pressure to the arm opens and closes the crack - so there must be movement there all the time when sailing in a reasonable breeze - only a matter of time until it fails. Has anyone got exper...

Hi Bob, I'll post back at the end of the year to confirm whether the carpet has fallen off in a soggy heap or is still stuck firm. I'm afraid I can't claim to be the Crazy Dave or a Grafham sailor. I'm one of a number of new Sprint 15 owners at Marconi SC. I picked up 1488 from Cardiff last summer a...

Just though I'd add my experience of this job having recently read the above comments and then undertaken it myself. I used the water resistant rubber backed bathroom carpet from B&Q. It comes pre-packed in fairly small dimensions (3m x 1.5m from memory) for about 20 quid. For adhesive I used No...