H16 rudder and tiller

I picked up a Hobie 16 that has no rudders or tiller. At the online shops I see a bunch of rudder and tiller parts but it's not obvious everything I need if I'm entirely missing rudders and tiller.

I got these two boats from a government auction from a local town that was selling them.

One is a 2007 - CCMB9246E707 is the serial number.

The other is 1982 - CCMQ5580M82E sn.

They only had 1 rudder/tiller assembly and weren't sure what boat it was for. It's not obvious to me how to connect the rudders to the boat. It seems I am missing some kind of pin. Should I order some of these? - https://www.murrays.com/product/01-2269/

With those pins will these rudders work in either boat?


1982 boat - https://photos.app.goo.gl/UHARh7HqsLCqJcjJA
2007 boat - https://photos.app.goo.gl/5nkKVWHVdbYQjDm7A
Rudders and tiller - https://photos.app.goo.gl/Tj4iUPxRuDSkwVFh7

The rudders and tillers you have belong to the 80s boat.

Murray's is not an authorized Hobie dealer, don't buy from them.

For the parts you need for the 2007, page 51 of this is your friend - https://media.hobie.com/digital_assets/ ... mzJJp3.pdf

Page 18 of the assembly manual shows you how to attach the rudders - https://media.hobie.com/digital_assets/ ... Manual.pdf

Agreed, rudders look like they're from different boats, (color) but from the older cat.
I disagree with the advice of not using Murray's. They have been outstanding with the personal attention and assistance in helping me rebuild two different older cats. However, always do your own research as well.
A you-tuber Joe Bennett site called Joyrider has lots of videos, some quite detailed on rebuilding and tuning rudder assemblies for the H16. I rebuilt my rudder assemblies with full rebuild, choosing what kind of rudder pin, ( steel, fiberglass, nylon ) new cams, delrin screws, attachment to the hull, and tuning for best sailing performance, the works watching his vids.
Hobie has some good vids as well, I'm just not as online savvy to find all of the ones I want as easily as others.
Definitely check out an exploded diagram of parts for full boat assembly to give yourself and idea of what to look for. Then go on parts search.

_________________

'89 H14 'Jaws'
'85 H16

I think the choice between a tiller and a rudder largely depends on the type of boat you have. Smaller vessels often opt for tiller steering due to its simplicity and affordability. In contrast, larger boats typically utilize rudders for their stability and precision.

The assembly is for the older 1982. I have a 1984 H16.
It appears you only need the pins. ( I don't see the tiller either)
This assembly will work on either boat.
Murry's gets their parts from Hobie.
I would NOT get stainless pins. Sure they will last forever and not wear
down. But guess what? Something has to wear down, and it's going
to be your gudgeons. I would rather replace pins every 5 or so
years then the gudgeons.
So get aluminum. If you want to be resourceful, the pins are 3/8" in diameter.
Home Depot sells a 36" bar of 3/8" diameter aluminum for about $10.
You can cut it up and get, I think, 4 pins out of it. Drill a hole at each end for
cotter pins and your done.
Also, measure the diameter of your gudgeon holes. If they are larger then 3/8"
you will need the plastic bushings Murry's sells to take up the slop of the new pins.
You want everything tight for your steering, preferably.

Greg 1984 H16 Tequila Sunrise

I make my own aluminum pins from hardware store stock, too. However, they are 3/8 inch diameter, not 1/2 inch!

Add'l info for the H14 folks: Cut yours a little shorter so that the lower end extends out of the lower casting just enough to drill the lower hole. This way they won't interfere with drain plug removal/replacement.

_________________
Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16

My 2 cents on rudder pins. Use stainless steel (304 or 316) and be done with it. The stainless pins will not significantly wear down stainless gudgeons (I’ve never noticed this to be an issue) and if you have the new aluminum one-piece gougens, you can replace bushings if you need to. I’ve been using stainless pins for decades, including in the surf. The last thing you want is for a rudder pin to fail while you’re on the water. It will be a major headache sailing back in with one rudder disabled (assuming you don’t lose it completely). And all rudder pin materials except for stainless will eventually wear and fail.

I also would not recommend using hardware store stock for any pins, especially not aluminum. The aluminum rods in hardware stores is generally low grade acrhitectural aluminum almost certainly from China. If you’re going to use aluminum (again I recommend stainless), then at least use a high strength aircraft grade alloy like 6061-T6 or 7075. You can get that from McMaster Carr.

sm

This would be a good place to point out that you can sail and steer a Hobie without rudders by clever use of sails and weight shifting. For example launching and returning through surf is done with the rudders up. If you're in a club running drills is a good use of your time on weekends. Rick White and Mary Wells wrote a book on sailing drills published in 1995. Every club should have a copy in their library.

Every sailor should be confident in the basics. Here are some to get started.
Boat Handling Drills

• Tacking drills — repeated tacks in quick succession to build smooth, consistent technique and timing between crew
• Gybing drills — same concept on the downwind side; controlled and aggressive gybes in varying wind strengths
• Figure-8 drills — sailing a figure-8 course around two marks, combining tacks and gybes in close succession
• Crash tack — emergency tack from full speed; builds instinct for getting out of trouble

Then you can get fancy for rudders up, silence, crew switch, light air, and capsize. For racers they will want to practice upwind mark rounding, downwind mark rounding, starting, finishing, covering, and crossing.