ready to give up my getaway

Ok, so I have started several threads in this form and have talked to my dealer and have had no answer to my windward pull on the helm. I just can't do it anymore, I had to drill a hole in the rudder stick to put a long pin it so I can hold on. By the end of the day I can hardly lift my arms as they are so sore. I have done the following, got as much forward rake as I can, shimmed out the upper brackets on the rudders to give them some rake, and tightened up the bolts on the rudders to make sure the stay in the lock down position. I love my boat but I just can't sail it any more like this, someone please help me so I don't have to give up on Hobie cats!!

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

Shimming the upper bracket on your rudders doesn't do any good. The whole point of raking the rudders forward is to get the center of effort of the rudder, closer to the pivot point. By putting a shim behind the upper bracket, you are moving the center of effort of the rudder forward, but you are also moving the pivot point forward so you are getting no gain.

I'm a 16 guy and don't know much about the getaway rudders so I cant be much help here, but you need to rake the rudders forward, without also raking the pivot point forward.

On the 16's this is done on the old boats by drilling new holes in the rudder.

I don't know how you could do this with the moulded plastic pieces that hold the blade in place? I will spend some time looking at it today. Might be easier to change the indent in the rudder where it locks up or down. Maybe a Hobie engineer may be able to help? As a follow up the problem is directly proportionate to the wind speed, the more wind the more the pull, after about 15 knots of wind the boat becomes unsailable.

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

If you have EZ Loc rudders we did have an issue a few years ago with asymmetrical rudders. One side sunk in. This caused heavy weather helm on one tack but neutral or even lee helm on the other. If that is the case, the blades should be replaced under warranty.

One thread on this from 2008: http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=10293&hilit=weather+helm

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

Ok thanks Matt, you are the man!! After looking at the rudders the left one is definitely a lot different than the right one. Here are some pics.

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

The port side looks twisted.

Maybe? Perhaps just the ange the picture was taken at. If is off just a little i don't know how that would affect helm?

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

So what do you think Matt, should I get my dealer to order two new blades?

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

Ok, so I did some testing today, wind 0 to about 7mph what i noticed is that when I am on a port reaching there is considerable more upwind helm than on the opposite reach.

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

Try swapping the rudder blades with each other and see if the helm moves to the other side. If so try just replacing the one think is bad.

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Floyd
00 Tiger
http://www.HobieFleet33.com
10 Mile Surfside, Texas
Join us on our Facebook group: Surfside Sailing

How about things beside the rudder, like uneven shrouds, cracked battens, or hull issues?

Can't he use one rudder at a time to isolate which one is bad? I think you should take them to the dealer, you've spent enough effort.

One may fix this if the helm is not heavy on both tacks. Port tack is loading the starboard blade, so work it out that way as to which is the problem. You can also fill the hollow side with epoxy putty in a pinch.

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

Just to follow up, I did receive two new rudders from my dealer (many thanks to James at Ebs Sports in Saskatoon and Hobie Cat for all the support and help). Now that I knew what to look for I checked all four rudders and found one of the new ones that was not very symmetrical between the two sides. I took my palm sander and reshaped it till it was nice and symmetrical. Installed them today and went for a test sail, WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! It still has a very slight weather helm (advantageous should you get seperated from the boat) but very manageable even in our 25K wind today!! Hobie Cat I love you guys and I love my boat!!

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.