Stephen Yoder wrote:Bud,

The rudder on my W28 is getting kind of wobbly like there's some slop in the pintle/gudgeon connection. Is this common and is there a fix short of new pintles and/or gudgeons?

-Steve

The gudgeons have a fiberglass tube in them, and the pintals are bronze rods.  If the fiberglass wears, then you can get some wobble at the gudgeons.  Check Pages D-7, D-9, and D-12 in my Westsail Service Manual. 

About the only fix I can come up with is when the boat is hauled, put some tape around the pins under the gudgeons, and pour some thickened epoxy resin around the pins to fill the gaps.  When the epoxy is just getting hard, move the rudder back and forth to make sure the resin does not stick to the pins.  That should fill in the worn areas.

Ahoy Steve,

A few years ago, while hauled out, I noticed a little looseness in the gudgeon/ pintle connection.  It was only a little and caused no real concern.  However, I decided to shim it up.  I used mylar film, which is .002" thick.  I cut the length equal to the gudgeon tube length, and the width equal to the pintle circumference - with no overlap.  I removed the pintles and was able to get one piece of mylar in each gudgeon.  I could not get more.  There has been no problem since.

Good luck,    Dave