Hey, I just bought a Hobie 16 and am in the process of fixing some slight fiberglass issues. The biggest one is that the rudder casting sits directly on the decks of both hulls. Since there is some pressure and the casting moves, the decks have been chewed away. I've repaired the glass and gelcoat, but wonder if there is a good way to prevent this. Was the boat designed such that a rotating piece of aluminum sits with pressure on the gelcoat, or has it been poorly modified sometime in the last 24 years? Thanks for any advice you may have! I attempted to attach a pic... hope it works. -Matt

Believe it or not, that's not that bad.

One way to fix it is to install plastic bushings in the rudder casting. They slip into the pin holes of the casting after you've drilled out the holes to accept them. They have a 1/16" lip to keep them from slipping down into the casting and provide a great bearing surface against the fiberglass and the gudgeons.

So the upper casting was designed to sit right there on top of the gelcoat... I was thinking of drilling a hole in a teflon mast chip and using it as a washer between the deck and the casting. Thanks for the bushing tip, I'll check it out.

The lower part of the casting sits on a hinge attached to the transom. That should take most of the "weight" from the rudder. If the casting is sitting on the gelcoat then it may be that the gudgeon has worn down a bit too? :?

I've seen this on quite a few boats and like the others have mentioned, it's probably the result of wear at the lower mount area. I've even seen people just hack the fiberglass lip off in that area. Not something I would do, but some people just like a quick fix. I like the idea of putting the nylon bushing in to hold the rudder a little bit higher.
Jack

A simple washer made from some non corrosive material will do the job. Patrick

I had the same problem. I bought nylon washers at Home Depot for 10 or 15 cents each.
George

Bingo! That is exactly what I ended up doing too, George. It works like a champ. Now I'm replacing the plastic delrin screws that adjust the compression of the locking plunger. They were absolutely stuck in there... had to use a tap to clean the threads after drilling the old screw out. What a mess. Anyway, it'll be nice to have rudders that operate properly the next time I sail. Thanks for your responses, everybody. -Matt