Facing the music

Well, it just got to be too much. The rudder scream has got to go. I was out last weekend and I could just feel the drag when the hum started. I have polished the rudders and could see no perceptible gap under the straight edge test, but it had to be there as evidenced by the music.
I used a belt sander and attacked the trailing edge and low and behold a telltale hollow appears about 2 inches in from the edge. But only on one side. Is this common to the problem or is it usually both sides? I took some pictures, but can't discover the method to attach them on this site. Anyway, I sanded them out and will leave the other side "as is" too make sure that the fix works. Anyway, anyone else use the same method? I could never figure out the scissors thing. The sander seemed to do a great job. It took a while as it was very slow to take material off. Guess I'll find out Saturday when I take the boat out. Wish me luck

Matt Miller will post a drawing that will illustrate the proper shape. Scissors are a decent tool to shape the trailing edge. Make sure the leading edge is smooth with no mold ridge on it.

_________________

Put the rudder on a work bench. Take one blade of the scissors in both hands and drag it along the length of the rudder blade. If you're doing it correctly you'll see shavings.

With the plastic rudders, and many skis. Concavities are left behind due the mold or warping when leaving the mold before being fully cured. These valleys are often hard to see. With the plastic rudder blades I bust out a can of spray paint and paint the blade (usually just the rear trailing half) . Then sand entill the paint is gone sanding out the valleys.
OR just buy some EPOS or fiberglass blades used if you can find some.

Located in our support area is a link to dealing with rudder hummmmm.

http://www.hobiecat.com/support/index.html

http://www.hobiecat.com/support/tech/hum.html

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

LOL... I like the rudder hum.. it means I'm going fast! It's usually reduced by 50% cause one comes out of the water shortly thereafter.

But it's gotta be slowing me down. I can feel it clear up to my shoulder! I didn't get to see if the repair I did worked as we didn't get much wind this Saturday. We just lazed around the lake and only once got even close to fast enough.

It will slow you down and accelerate wear on rudder system components.

_________________