...Thud! "Dammit!" ...Thud! "Dammit!" ...Thud! "Dammit!"

In the bay where I sail mostly, we seem to have these little suckers in large schools.

http://stingmate.files.wordpress.com/20 ... -jelly.jpg

It's great to see them around but yesterday when I was out, at times I couldn't go more than 10-15 seconds without hitting one and having to re-lock the rudder(s) down. I would have sworn they were watching to wait until I had one hull in the air and then "Bump!". Down we go and reset the rudders.

My rudders are perfectly adjusted and kick-up beautifully, but this was pretty frustrating.

Is there anything I can do to apply a little more tension to them, other than perhaps a little more pressure on the springs? (My adjustment screws are seized, I think).

Ideas???

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'97 Hobie 16.

Skype: rob_arnolda

Tie your rudders down.

sm

Cool. Sounds simple enough.

What method do you recommend?

_________________
'97 Hobie 16.

Skype: rob_arnolda

I've applied razor blades to the leading edge of my rudders- only protrudes about 1/16"- works great... "Thud, Slice, Sushi ?"
Just kidding...

_________________
Raise your sail one foot, and you get ten feet of wind.
起你的一只帆，和你10英尺的。 -- Chinese Proverb
William D. Latinette @ Latrobe, PA, USA w. H14 Turbo X 2... [email protected]

There used to be a company Jen-Tec? that made a rudder hold down. It had little cups that were put on the rudder bolts and a piece of shock cord was wrapped from one to the other around the top of the back side of the rudder.

Cut up the sting rays, they taste just like scallops. Just don't step on them.

I think you can either do a line around the rudder blade and rudder pin or you can do a line around the upper and lower castings (which might be easier to access from on the boat). I've never been in a situation where I've had to do this, but I've definitely heard of people doing it in places like Corpus Christi where the jelly fish can be really bad.

I use the bungee system described above (with the washers that mount to the lower casting) but I don't think that would be sufficient for large jelly fish.

Whatever you do, make sure you can release the rudders before coming into the beach. Also, if you hit something large enough or run aground, you run the risk of damaging the rudder system or the boat, so it might be wise to use aluminum rudder pins rather than stainless so the pins break rather than the boat.

sm

That's probably what they say about us !!!

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Happy Sailing,

David

1544 KICK BACK KIT

In the catalog. Page 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)

Remove the cams, plunger and spring and add small stainless washers to shim and compress the spring. This will increase the tension when the adjuster screw is frozen. Use washers the same diameter as the spring.

Damn you (Matt and jkkartz) and your pre-existing solutions!!!

Looks like a great idea. I may just wait a while and see if they don't move along as the season changes. Otherwise, that looks like the trick.

I'll also keep the sushi thing in mind too!!!

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'97 Hobie 16.

Skype: rob_arnolda

The pre existing solution is over 30 years old. There are very few things new that can be done to a Hobie 16.

When the wind really dies, Tip the boat over, tie a life jacket to the mast head and use the hull sticking up in the air as a diving board. My buddy could do a backwards somersault.