kick up rudders

We bought a 86 Hobie 16 at the end of last summer and didn't have too many chances to sail it before the end of the season. We have some sprucing up we want to do this spring.

Anyway last summer we had trouble with the rudders kicking up upon reaching shallow water. They wanted to stay locked down. What parts do we need to look at or replace to fix this problem?

I'd check the cam located within the lower rudder casting. Check for full rotation and also check the cam locking pin and associated spring for correct operation. If any parts are worn I'd recommend replacing them. You'll find other advice in this forum with more detail. Your local Hobie dealer can also help you. This is a fairly simple mechanism designed to save damage to your rudders upon hitting something underwater.

Hope this helps some,

_________________
Eric
H16
Sail# 11500

You can read-up on the subject here:

http://home.earthlink.net/~mattson/hobi ... ature2.htm

_________________
Eric
H16
Sail# 11500

Thank you for the help and the link.

Make sure all of the system components are properly lubricated. Also, if you look up into the bottom of the lower rudder casting, you will see a fairly large plastic screw (about 1/2" dia). This screw sets the pre-load on the plunger spring. Loosening this screw reduces the force required to kick up the rudders (and vice versa).

sm

Marine grease applied to the cam and plunger helps also.