Thanks Jeff,

I must temper your optimism a bit though.
The knee surgeon was very worried about the chondropathie of the knee disc. Because that is not solved by a knee replacement joint.

So I have to try to grind the backside of the kneecap as much as I can by myself. Byclicling is f.i. a recommended training; but it has to be done with care. It can worsening the kneedisc also.
Twenty years ago I've made and designed my own recumbent bike from aluminium. It's a socalled low rider with a backseat that is ofcourse 100% modelled for me. Moreover It has also frontwheel suspension and backwheel suspension
so its chockfree.
Last week I mounted a chinese E-motor in my bracket with which I can control precisly the pedal force which I have to add.



See the motor upfront and the battery behind my head.

Last year I started this thread mentioning my stenosis in my back and its complications on catsailing.
Well, the stenosis is cured (knock wood) almost completely by itself. In my eyes a little miracle because expectations on that were low.
So I could fully sail on my cat last year until…….

On first Christmasday the next fysical problem showed up after my leg got trapped under my frontbeam and the beachsand (I know that sound strange). I yelled it out from the pain and couldn't stand on this leg again. So I payed for a MRI
investigation. Result: kneedisc severly damaged plus gonartrosis (worn out knee). After some months of rest I started searching for aids that could help me sailing again.

I discovered that with two small support shelfs mounted on the side of the hulls I could hang on the wire again. And keeping my knee aligned just above my foot. Which was painfree for my knee as long as I kept the right position.:




Ofcourse I know that the arthosis will go on and I will end with a knee replacement but now I can pay some time...…..

That certainly sounds doable and easier/cheaper than the old EX Raker. A few thoughts (that you may have already considered):

If, like many old boats, there's excessive slop in other parts of the system (gudgeons, rudder pins, holes in castings for the rudder pins), this mod may not be real helpful in and of itself. It's hard to describe well in words, but, if there's slop elsewhere and the new slot is wide enough, it will likely be possible to slide the new bolt so far forward in relation to the pin/sister screws on which the cam rides that the cam will not have enough clearance to rotate properly. (This can occur with the modern adjustable system and the EZ Raker as well.) If adjusted with the rudder locked down, the cam will be bound and not rotate up; if adjusted with the rudder up, the bolt will be blocked before the cam is rotated all the way down. In such case if the bolt is slid back enough for proper cam rotation, the rudder will likely still trail back due to the excessive slop elsewhere causing unwanted tiller load. I guess the bottom line is that this mod cannot remove excessive slop located elsewhere in the system. While the rudder should lock/unlock better than it does now, this mod may not fully achieve the desired result without new rudder pins and/or gudgeon/casting bushings.

The length of the new bolt that will be inside the casting should not be threaded (for increased shear strength and minimization of damage to the cam).

This sounds like a lot of work, but for a great cause. Perhaps a local machine shop would contribute (free or reduced cost) services toward all of the needed mods in exchange for some public recognition?

I believe your idea has a lot of merit and would like to hear others' thoughts.....maybe you should revive this old Hobie Forum thread?: https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=63204

Good luck and please let us know how this works out!

I have been pondering this for a while because the local sheriffs camp has about 20 16s and 14s that we are helping with. The rudder systems are horrid. Mostly old non adjustable castings. I had an idea for a simple modification that I would like to run by you guys. The old castings use a ss tube in a hole through the upper casting that is flared on both ends to hold it in place. What if I drilled that out and drilled/ filed adjacent to it to make a slot. Then replace the tube with a 1/4-20 bolt and nut with some star washers for grip. This could be adjusted in the newly made slots to get a proper lock down. The slot would only have to go towards the cam since these old systems are always loose.

What do you guys think?