First of all, getting the rudders into the locked position and making it stay there is nothing but a cra p shoot. Secondly what's up with the shallow batten pockets on the leach side of the sail? Has anyone ever seen a sail that's older than 15-20 years old that doesn't have holes at the end of the pockets or been repaired?

I went out today in 20-30 mph winds. It was great, but very short. I was screaming across the bay and 3 minutes into it I heard a loud bang. I looked around to see what caused the noise, but saw nothing. So I went to beach it and take a look. While doing so the swells in the water exposed the problem....rudder snapped off just below rudder bracket.

I take a side order of deep fried Penguin with red wing hot sauce. GO RED WINGS!!!!!

hey at least it wasnt the rudder gudgeons ripping out of the boat. But yea, im not too fond of the hobie rudder design. too much metal-metal ware and tare.

have ya considered a prindle rudder set-up?? alot of people bitch about them, but if ya clean up and lube the pulleys and put new good new rope on them, they work real slick. a guy had a whole set-up including tiller ext on ebay for i think a hundred bucks that didnt sell. just some food for thought.

I have so far, never had any issues with my H16 rudder setup. I bought nylon washers from the local Ace hardware store and used those as shims to eliminate rudder slop as per On The Wire technical tip. I replaced my rudder cams and used silicone lubricant on my delrin screws. I etched measurement lines on my adjustable tiller crossbar and used those to achieve zero-pull on my steering system.

I do remember one time though, out sailing, noticed another H16 on the lake, was trying to catch up with it when a squall blew in and was amazed that I could not close the distance. Squall blew over and when I did catch up, realized why, newbie was sailing with his rudders in the up position enabling him to sail closer to the wind. I pulled him into the beach and showed him how the rudders worked and volunteered to help him rebuild the steering system as he lived in my area. I still get a chuckle whenever I think of that day, he had been sailing for quite some time, and he always wondered why the helm was so heavy.

--
TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
--

I did some research on it and found two pieces of information that can really make a difference. One is a you tube video, I really like the video's because diagrams can sometimes be harder to determine what exactly they are talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDckg7uZ32k&feature=channel_page

http://www.thebeachcats.com/index.php?module=pictures&g2_itemId=11577

If anyone has additional info into this area, please post it.

Thanks, Jim

Here's another for rudder slop.

http://www.thebeachcats.com/OnTheWire/home.earthlink.net/_mattson/hobie/archives/v1-i7/feature1.htm

Jim,
thanks for the links.
I haven't had any problems yet, but it's good to see how it's done.

If properly adjusted AND LUBRICATED) the hobie system works pretty well.and if you have old cheap stock nylon rudders... they are eventually gonna get brittle with age and use. i broke 3 in a month.

PS new Dart rudders are 1200 each (yes just the rudder)

And did you say 15-20 year old sails??? well... thats alot of life. New racing sails are replaced every 2 or 3 reggata's (by the pro's).

I just had my racing sail shred in 1/2 on saturday.. its only 2 years old.

Andrew

What company made your sail ?

Just curious?

Thanks



--
Gordon
Nacra 5.5SL
--

North Sails but they held up way past their expected life span.

They were built to race (at an olypic level) and be discarded after a few uses. i have sailed them well over 130 times (this is after they were discarded by
Charlie Ogletree and John Lovell)

No complaints here.. i think i may have a new sail made with that one as a template

I wish I went sailing 130 times in the last 2 years.

--
Scott,
‘92 H18 w/SX wings
‘95 Hobie Funseeker 12 (Holder 12)
‘96/‘01/‘14 Hobie Waves
--

I did happen to see the weather report for chicago last night... 50's and 60's????? Brrrrrrrr , glad i live in fl.

PS
i have 2 main sails.. i have sailed much more than that.... :)

Andrew you must live on the water...must be nice!

i live less than 3 miles from the gulf of mexico. Yes it is nice... actually its freaking amazing....

Thats a big part of why i live here.

PS there is room for more people to live here!!!! :)

I was wrong, it was a Ullman Sail

Andrew, there are plenty of people in our area, but Scott, your welcome to visit anytime. But get your boat out to the causeway by 10 or 11, or you wont get a spot.

I think that the weather is mid to upper 80s, and the gulf temp is 83. It was nice sailing last evening evening.