H16 rudder adjustment

Hi all. New user here. I bought a 1982 Hobie 16 that experiences a lot of weather helm. I found and downloaded a rudder adjustment procedure here at Cat Sailor. Coincidently the procedure is indicated for 1982 models. The problem is that my rudder castings don't have either the fore/aft rudder adjustment screw nor the tiller take up screw on top of the rudder arm. Did Hobie stop using these adjustments at some point? Or was my boat built before they actually started using them? Anyway, how does one eliminate the excess helm? My boat has the high performance (black) rudders if that makes any difference. As a newbie I hope this isn't an FAQ. I did a search first and found nothing. Thanks.

Take a look at the FAQ on the Hobie Cat forums about rudder cams first. It is possible that the rudders are just not staying locked down properly. http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=467

Also check rudder alignment in the direction of travel. Proper rudder alignment would be 1/8" to 1/4" toe-in on a 14 or 16. This is measured with the rudders down. Measure leading edge to leading edge and then trailing edge to trailing edge. The front (toe) should be closer together than the trailing edge. Measure at about the little hump on the leading edge and straight back from there for the trailing edge. It is always possible that the rudders are actually mounted on the reverse hulls. That causes extreme toe-in problems. Look at the upper casting / arms to be sure they angle in towards the boats centerline when the rudders are in alignment with the hulls.

If the rudders are locked and staying locked while sailing, you may have to re-drill the rudders to set the rudder rake properly. There is a Hobie rudder drilling template that might help. Otherwise the basic rudder rake procedure is as follows.

Start off with the rudders in the locked down position. Measure down the blade 12” from the bottom of the lower casting. Mark the rudder with a line 2” long perpendicular to the 12” point. Using a very thin piece of line, starting at the top of the rudder pin, align the "line" with the rudder pin top to bottom (on the pins center line / axis) and check where the line intersects the mark on the rudder. Mark the point where your rudder pin axis crosses the mark you made 12" down the blade. Measure in from the front of the rudder. A larger measurement means that the rudder is raked forward more. More forward rake is less weather helm. Optimally, you should have 1 5/8” to 1 3/4” for a measurement. To achieve the 1 3/4” number, you might have to re-drill the front hole on the rudder or file away at the front of the rudder where it hits the casting. To much forward rake can cause lee helm and THAT is WORSE and even dangerous. The boats sail better and are safer if the boat rounds up slowly when the tiller is released.

You can use the above technique to measure and re-drill a blade. Mount the blade on the lower casting. Make all of the above measurements and set (and hold) the rudder in the desired rudder rake position. Lock the upper casting onto the rudder and lower casting. Push the upper assembly up into the cam to seat it tightly (that holds the rudder in the raked position once the rudder system is fully set up). Align the tiller arm angle (vertical position) with the rudder assembly on the opposite side of the boat. You can mark the bolt hole position or drill right through using the casting as a drill guide. You must hold the upper arm in position while drilling this way. I angle the drill slightly forward rather than straight through. This forces the upper casting forward more as the drill reaches the opposite side of the casting after going through the rudder blade. If the hole is too far aft, the rudder will slip aft a bit when under sailing loads.

Thanks for the tip. Good stuff! I guess I have the older casting without set screws. It may be an optical illusion in the water but it appears visually I have no forward rake underway. I'll see what I can do with it on the beach this weekend or redrill using the template after I secure the boat for the season.

You can also tie them forward with Bunjee.

The 83 model was the first year to incorporate the rudder adjusting features that you mentioned. They're very nice and work well. The new type upper castings are all you really need to adjust rudder rake. You might try giving Dan Berger email. He's in your Virginia Beach area and sometimes has a lot of used parts. Search this forum for his name, and you'll come up with his email address eventually.

You might take a look at an old 'On the Wire' article that describes the drilling process, if you have to go that way.
http://www.thebeachcats.com/OnTheWire/www.catsail.com/archives/v2-i7/feature3.htm

As the article suggests, I would very much recommend a drill press if have access to one. If the drill bit 'wanders' or grabs, then you may create a bigger problem than you have now.

Good Luck.

I pushed the stern up over the dunes and locked the rudders down to see if re-drilling was a possibility but the existing holes make that risky. I would end up with one big elongated hole. I replaced the cam on the port rudder casting and that helped a lot. Several weeks ago a "friend" had tried to twist it unlocked with a pair of pliers and so temper was lost out of the plastic. This allowed the port rudder to pretty much do what it pleased. I'd still like to find a set of adjustable rudder castings though.

That's a shame about the cams getting damaged. They are easy to deal with if you keep them greased and use a small blade screw driver to depress the plunger and rotate them open if they stick.

The elongated hole is not a problem. You will plug the hole first and then re-drill. We used to use nylon rudder pins to plug the holes. Drill to 3/8. Hammer a pin in and cut off flush. Re-drill. Chopped fiber and epoxy works better, but the hammered-in pin technique was fast!

Do you mean like the marine patch stuff? I have some of this I used this to build up my keels.

Just about anything will work, but some fiber filler makes it stronger and more wear resistant.

A) On my 14 the tiller banged a void in the top of the hul, where the upper casting wears the lower is has abought a .100 grove can this be the cause and can I weld and reshape it?
B) Can I modify the uper casting to allow rake control without re driling?
C) I saw an artical on reaming the lower casting to accept bushings like my 17 has now I cant seem to find it can you help?
Thanks Dave in texas.

Subject: Re: h-14/16 rudder castings

A) Perhaps the wear has allowed the tiller to come lower, but maybe the tiller arm is bent or something. I see no problem with filling and reshaping the castings there to get it higher. I take it that this is when the rudders are in the up position.

B)There is a kit in the catalog that is called EZ Raker. I has parts for doing just that. Perhaps from the picture you can even make your own. It looke pretty simple. The kit is about 70 bucks. Page 32, lower right side. Part #1585.

C)I don't know about the article, but there are several different bushing options. We show #8062001 (Right next to the EZ raker). You get bushing and drill out the pin holes to accept them. Says open the holes to 7/16". Murrays also shows some bushings. May be a different dimension. Couldn't find a post on the Hobie site about it.