Run
aground hard enough with your Tuttle fin, and the forward bolt will bend or
tear through the deck, and the aft end of the fin root will be driven up
into the box. Invariably, the aft face of the fin box cavity will be split.
Depending on the make, the assembly may or may not leak into the board. Most Northshore Maui boards, for example, have such massive Divinycell
cartridges surrounding their fin boxes, that hardly any of them leak, even
when substantially mauled.
The aft face forms one half of the structure that
counteracts the sideforces generated by the fin. Ergo, when split, you have
lost one half the strength of your box. While it may not leak, this is
positively a grave structural matter and needs to be addressed post-haste,
lest you find yourself stranded without a functioning fin.
How to repair such a split box? Can it be patched in
some way?
Below the typical cross section of an upscale
production Tuttle box: |
 |
If one were to a attempt a
repair from within the fin box cavity, such repair would
1. interfere with fin fit; and
2. be stressed in peel strength of the lamination,
which is its most vulnerable direction - especially so since surface prep in
this situation would be marginal at best. |
