Last week I removed the rudder from my Sailboat to do some repairs. I got all the chunks filled in and recovered in glassfibre.. but for added strength I decided to use the roll of Carbonfibre I had laying about to cover the rudder.
So it went from this:
To this:
I still need to clean up the ends of the CF fabric and add a few more layers of resin to clean everything up and smooth.. but I am going to hate painting over this
Leave it for that "ricer boater" look. 
Assuming you used a good epoxy resin for it, why do you need to paint it?
Agreed! More clear coat.
Faux Americas Cup. I dig.
You won't have to worry about UV damage will you? If no, then I agree with everyone else.
I may think it's pretty.. but for a boat that is going to spend 6 months of the year afloat.. when it comes out that rudder will covered in slime and barnacles. It needs a good bottom paint to keep those critters off.
But it will be very strong
Paint it to the waterline
well.. that is the rub.. it goes completely under the water. You do not see the rudder on my boat
You clearly need to install this rudder in such a way as to show off how high tech it is.
Priorities man!
post title and boat reference made me think of Barnacle Bill the Sailor. Nothing relevant to add. Carry on
glass bottom in the cockpit?
CF wrap the rest of the boat (single layer) followed by copious marine grade clear coat?
I was thinking UV-resistant clear coat as well, but if it's always underwater, not only will you not get to see it but it will also get covered in ocean crud.
My poor sailboat spent more time turtled than upright so it wouldn’t be a problem for me.
How about posting your cell phone number upside down on the rudder to make it easier
for the rescue people to contact you.
My boat has 1800 pounds of lead in the keel...I can't imagine it staying turtle for very long
If this is a stupid idea, tell me... But what about plastidipping the thing? Then you could save the look of the rudder, and cleaning it would be super easy--just peel off the plastidip and no more barnacles.
That looks cool! But I can't fathom (see what I did there? ) having a roll of CF just 'laying around'.
It was laying about from years and years ago. I was going to try to build something out of it for my BMW. I can't remember what it was now.. but at least the roll came in handy. The new roll I just bought is also going to come in handy as I now need to cut out the trailing edge of the keel due to some serious accident damage that was never properly repaired.
This is going to be one very strong 51 year old boat.
You can see why here
Nice job. I'm enjoying watching this work.
Maybe what you need is some underboat neon so everyone can see your underboat CF. That and a "shocker" sticker.
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