Revo Rudder Control

I have a Revo that's a couple months old and I'm working hard on learing how to use it. On a couple of trips I've notice a strange phenomena while under pedal power where I have the rudder control turned hard to the right and the boat continues to turn sharply to the left. The strange thing is that everything seems to work perfect most of the time. This might happen twice on 6-7hr outing. It works exactly as it should 98% of the time. Also, I think I'm always getting turned the same way (to the left).

Everything seems to be mechanically correct as well. When the boat is out of the water and on a stand, the rudder turns the correct direction and it seems to go just as far in one dierction as it does the other. This makes me think Operator error and not mechanical issue. I can't imagine what I could be doing to cause it though. I'm not dragging anything, and the weight on the boat is evenly distributed.

I haven't totally ruled out strong wind and/or current. One of these same trips I was having difficulty paddeling as well. For istance I was paddeling only on the right side to keep the boat in a straight line - with the mirage drive flattened out and the rudder up

Any thoughts? Wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences? Thanks Guys/Gals!

Not knowing where you're getting this reaction, such as water conditions, I can only think it's possibly a "swell" or wave of sorts from the rear. Lifting the stern for you and sluffing off your rudder control. Another possibility could be the rudder not sitting down hard enough to be lifted by speed/water conditions, lessening the rudders effect and combining that with a following sea, even if slight, or current. I'm not sure if you have the "locking" down of the rudder control or not. Have someone stay astern of you and watch for the action and see if they can see the rudder doing something you'd not expect.

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Yakkingaway
Portsmouth, VA

We have a Revolution too, and I'm not sure if this will help, but we had a problem with the Revolution steering when we first had our boat, but then realized that we were doing something wrong. We hadn't locked the rudder in place by pulling the T-Handle ALL THE WAY OUT. which allowed it to work really well, except when we really started to get going. Because the rudder is "TWIST and stow" when it comes up, it actually turns, (or twists) which means that as we built up speed, we put some resistance on the rudder, causing it to want to come up out of the water, as it comes up, it twists, which gives the effect of a turned rudder in the water.

The mistake that we were making is that we only pulled out the "DOWN" T-handle until the T handle reached the lock... what we had to do instead was pull the down handle all the way out, and lock it at that point. That locks it all the way down, and prevents it from rising... preventing it from rising, keeps it from twisting, which prevented us from turning.

So try that. If not, currents can certainly effect the boat, and we have found that at times on larger waves, the rudder can come right out of the water... this wouldn't necessarily create a consistent turn in one direction, but it can cause you to turn.

Hopefully that helps a little bit. The key for us was to simply lock the rudder down at it's furthest possible point, if that rudder can come up even just a few inches, it'll cause you to turn.

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Well that certainly would make good sense. I have a feeling I've missed the boat (literally) on the rudder locking. I was under impression that it was locking automatically when I pull the down lever all the way out. Is there something that needs to be done manually to lock it in the fully down position? That could certainly be my issue.

Thanks for the info.

X2 on what augaug said.

I forgot to lock the rudder down a few times when I first started going out and that is the exact problem I had. As it started to twist to come up the rudder will be in a port turn, (stern swinging to starboard). There is a small black clip on the starboard side of the cockpit right at the point of the down pull line all the way out. The T handel slides in the grove to secure it and keep tension on it.

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http://s909.photobucket.com/albums/ac294/gsammy925/

Well I'll be. There ya go. That's my issue. Had no idea. I bet that fixes my problem. Thanks guys. How's that for a Newb issue.

The clip is mounted on the side pocket netting black frame of mine

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http://s909.photobucket.com/albums/ac294/gsammy925/

Glad we could help! If you need to see a picture of that clip, let me know, I can't find a clear picture of it on the Hobie site, but I'd be glad to take a picture of it on my boat if you can't find it. If you weren't locking your rudder down, then I'm sure that will solve your problem. We learned the hard way too!

You'll have more fun now! Trust me!

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Thanks again guys. I'll look at this afternoon. I'm sure I can figure it out - it never occured to me. I didn't get an "owner's manual" with my boat that probably would tell you stuff like that and I haven't taken the time to watch all of the videos on Hobie's website yet. This forum is really helpful though.

I just posted a repair manual that covers all the inner workings of the Twist-n-Stow rudder system. This takes the mystery out of the system!

http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=22200

This image shows the down line system and hold-down cleat.





You need to pull the down line to stretch the shock cord, then it starts pulling on the control line to deploy the rudder and then pull with enough tension to hold the rudder down down... then cleast the line in the Hold-down cleat (Clam Cleat).

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Ask your dealer for the owners packet we put in every boat. This has all kinds of stuff in it including the manual, DVDs etc.

You can download the manual from the support pages too: http://www.hobiecat.com/support/pdfs/Mirage_Kayak_Manual.pdf

Lots of helpful stuff there. You can also get there from the Kayak FAQ post: http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewforum.php?f=21

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Is the DVD a USA thing? I've bought two Hobies and never seen this DVD, what's on it? Is it downloadable?

Thanks

Its a Hobie kayak manual dvd... you can view on our website too (11 chapters):

http://www.hobiecat.com/kayaking/video_manual.html

and on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/HobieUSA

The manual as a play list:

http://www.youtube.com/user/HobieUSA#grid/user/5841AD6D4105B61D

Chapter 1

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCIb_xM-bhQ[/youtube]

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Nice - thank you Matt. That is a great diagram. Appreciate everyone's info!

Thanks Matt!

Didn't get on the water today, putting in a closet organizer and went for a quick blast on the motorcycle this afternoon. Have to take a look thru all the videos later on with a Guiness!

Troutbum