Our rudder delaminated (fiberglass pulled away from the foam) very slightly, no more than 1/8″, from sitting in the mexican desert where the sun would expand and contract it every day. I know that it happened there, because the yard workers repaired it and it sat for awhile without sailing, and it delaminated again while sitting there. The only really important issue is whether there is water in the rudder that is corroding and rotting away the internal metal structure. If that happens, the metal tabs inside can break off and you can lose your steering–which would be very bad indeed. There was no water in our rudder (well okay like two drops) so the delamination that we had wasn’t very alarming. But we repaired it anyway. We drilled holes and injected epoxy using a syringe, then filled the holes with thickened epoxy, and then eventually sanded these fair before priming and bottom painting.
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