AI 2 Rudder Hold Down Problem (Tricky)

Working on my boat today, I noticed that pulling the rudder downhaul line did not bring the rudder all the way down. You can't pull any further on the handle, but you can walk back and push the rudder another 10 degrees or so down to straight vertical.

My first thought was well this had been this way from the dealer out, and I never noticed it. So I got busy and found a way to take up some slack where the downhaul line attaches to the rudder. Tweezers and tiny knots... Gained about an inch, and thought that should do it. But there was no change whatsoever.

So I got the mirror and started looking inside. From the front hatch, you can't see any part of the downhaul assembly because of the big piece of foam mounted there. From the back though....

NOTE--both these pictures are showing up here upside down; that is, the upper deck is on the bottom of the picture. Don't know why, since the originals are not that way.


This is what I saw from the back. Some part of the downhaul line assembly is looped around the internal protrusion of the fishing rod holder hole. Maybe that's not supposed to be that way.


Here's what it looks like after I reached in and slipped the black line off of the protrusion. Once that's done, the rudder goes all the way down again. Loop it back, and the problem returns.

I think this is one of three things that happened when I was bashing about in a chop: (1) the mainsheet hook was thrown out of the clew grommet on the mainsail; (2) the tubes for the steering lines jumped out of the holder up on the inside of the deck and were loose across the rear hatch opening; (3) and I guess somehow the rudder hold down line looped itself around the rod holder protrusion.

Anyway, I guess I'm going to be looking for things like this now after a bumpy ride. And taping the mainsheet hook going out in wind and chop.

Mike, the mainsheet hook jumping out of the clew is a sure sign that you are not taking enough advantage of one of the Islands most awesome assets, and you are allowing the sail to flog when conditions get too windy. This asset is the ability to partially furl the sail to match conditions. Hardly any other off-the-beach sailboats have this feature.

You will find that Islands actually go fastest in stronger winds when only about one third of the sail is not wrapped around the mast, and the simplest gauge as to when to start reducing sail is when the leeward ama starts to spend a lot of its time almost submerged.

There is no harm in reducing sail too much, whereas, on the contrary, things can get hectic as you have found.

_________________
Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

Thanks, Tony. Yes I was letting it flog--I was seeing if I could pedal my way around a tack against the chop and wind with the sail unfurled. I could, but the mainsheet detached in the process.

But what boat are you talking about? The leaward ama on the AI 2 doesn't have much tendency to submerge. It's big relative to the sail area. I haven't figured out what's going on with reefing the AI 2 sail yet. Seems like you have to roll up the whole of the first batten or else the top of it not yet furled really destroys the sail shape. I'd love to have a picture of it, but I typically am not fooling around with a camera in rough, windy conditions.

Trying different amounts of sail to windward in the chop, I noticed I had the most speed and OK stability with the full sail (wind 15-20); but the ride was really rough. I could calm things down and go slower reefing, but live with the distorted sail.

I should be clear here, I pretty much only sail for performance. I'm not involved in trips or fishing or the like. It would be different obviously if I were. Different concerns. Mostly I like a boat that performs well on all points of sail in varying conditions, and I love building things to customize the boat.

Mike .. I have AI Envy -> wish mine were a new AI2. That said, I've had a good bit of experience in playing in stiff wind and wind-driven wave .. like you, not to get from a specific point A to point B but more so to just have fun and fly ontop the water as fast as I can.

With "FUN" is the driving factor .. upwind/into wave I tend to steer a course not necessarily so the sail provides the most power, but more so that the AI slices or rides through the waves instead of pounding over them. This is usually at at-least a 30* or so angle. Downwind/with wave I try to angle myself again so I'm at an angle with the wave but now you get to surf them !! I vary the amount of sail and specific direction so as to keep me "On the wave" as long as possible. Yesterday I had some runs where I was literally surfing the down wind wave with about 20% sail out for well over 30 seconds.

I'd do that for a while, then unfurl a few more rounds and really let the wind take me for a ride.

If you ever feel like the boat is turning into the wind and you are constantly using reverse-rudder, its a good sign it is time to reef in a round or three of sail and re-eval. When the winds are strong, the best and easiest way to do that is to initiate a tack, but as soon as the sail starts to flutter stop the tack with neutral rudder, release the sheet and then pull in on the reef line and re-cleat, then adjust your rudder back away from the tack and readjust your main sheet. Doing this de-powers the sail and hugely reduces the force you have to yank on the reef line.

I also find it much easier to reefa few rounds more than intended and then let a bit out at a time .. than constantly try to reef more in. To let a bit out, again ease off the main sheet a good bit, and then uncleat the reef line but hold it taught (I use my left hand) .. and slowely lean forward a bit and it should unfurl. If it doesn't, just reach up with your right hand and give the bottom of the sail a slight tug backwards .. then re-cleat the reef line, trim the main sheet and GO !!

.. hope this helps

_________________
Alan W.

Papaya AI2 to replace my well worn V1
TheTwins - His/Hers 2007 Papaya Hobie Adventure Island's (v1.00.01)
.. and a Hobie Outback SUV

Alan, thanks for the tip on when to reef. Haven't been doing that but it makes sense... Especially reefing too much and then adjusting... I'll try to get some pictures of how bad the top upper 3rd of the AI 2 sail looks reefed various numbers of wraps in stronger winds.

In terms of sailing, I've been doing it all my life on boats large and small, mono and multihulled, blue water and coastal. So what you say about sailing relative to the waves both up and downwind is right on, but also not new to me.

I owned an AI 1, a while back before Hobie went to the detatchable knuckle inserts. I was happier with the simply vertical pins, because there was so much less slop in the joint. All in all, the AI 1 with haka benches remains I think a great boat.