Rudder bushing replacement a top priority?

[jsbartley]

I own a 40' Beneteau Oceanis 400 (1996). On last haulout a couple of months ago, they found the rudder with a slight wiggle (about 1/2 inch at the bottom of the rudder). I can feel it wiggle back and forth very slightly while sailing.

I am planning a 10 day trip to the Bahamas shortly. I have just now gotten the replacement bushing, and would have to postpone trip to schedule haulout before departure. How critical does my description sound, in terms of risk of damage to the rudder "tube"? Does it sound like something that needs to be addressed before departure?

Thanks for any advice.
jsbartley (Steve)

[Nekton73]

Since you say you can feel it while sailing I would want to do a very thorough inspection of your steering and rudder system to ensure that nothing else is contributing to this.
A few questions that jump to mind. When the 1/2" of play was observed at the bottom of the rudder, was corresponding play also observed at the bushing, or was it just an assumption? Just top or bottom bushing, or both? Confidence that the play is not actually in the rudder bonding to the stock?

If you are confident the bushing is indeed the problem, then I would not worry about that amount of play for a short trip such as you are describing. Enjoy your trip and fix when you return.

[donradcliffe]

I had play in the rudder for my 1985 Bene, and some of the play was the top bearing holder sliding around on the deck. Fixed that by taking it apart and remounting with 5200.

The second issue was wear in both the top and bottom bearings. The bottom bearing had O-ring seals which started leaking water when the boat was doing over 7.5 knots. After listening to the bilge pump run for 8000 miles I put new bushings and seals in in Australia.