Rudder Pin design

Yes, actually I have a stainless steel pin, that's much longer than the required length, and much thinner, bent at the top, so it won't fall through, but I might tie that to a bit of cord, and keep it in the rear hatch, and in an emergency, I don't mind putting that in, say off shore, just to get home.

Geoff.

That is a noble idea Geoff having a dedicated emergency only pin that slips in easily and can get you home but is not the Hobie pin that you would stuggle to get in at sea in its present form. That is exactly why I am suggesting to put a longer neck on top as per my original diagram which can be used for a finger hold to make the job a lot easier. It would cost Hobie zilch extra and would help greatly....Pirate

Yes, Pirate, a head for gripping is the way to go. This would facilitate regular replacing of pins, before they break.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

When racing catamarans it was pretty normal to use plastic or teflon to shim between the rudder pin and the rudder mounting bracket to remove the slop in the rudder asembly. In our case the gap between the pin and housing could be an advantage. It look big enough to allow a teflon shim to be installed when combimed with a lubricant may prevent the wear and build up of twisting loads we have on our pins.

The fit you speak about is actually pretty close and not where the play is MRL. The diameter differences between the rudder box, the hull and the pin is where the play arises. ...Pirate

Well if I jiggle my rudder assembly it seems to have no more play than I would expect. I don't have anyone to sail along behind me, so I can't say if it appears to wobble when sailing, but its pretty much how I would expect it when out of the water. H14 and H16 had a lot of play, but then that was along a horizontal axis, never the vertical pin similar to that which we have. And as mentioned, we used to shim that play out.

Geoff.

Pirate.
They used to make a shim which looked like a top hat with the top cut off. A shim like this could be inserted into the rudder box so the ID would match the brass insert in the hull then the pin could be shimed to take out the remaining gap

sorry about the double post did a little digging and found this on Murray's
http://www.murrays.com/archive/MurraysWhole.pdf
looks like the miracle 20 shim at 5/16 would just about the diameter you measured in the brass insert. To install itt would require reaming the the hole in the rudder box to 7/16". Then shim with a sheet of .005" to .007" teflon
Mike

Good stuff Mike. Right now I am thinking to machine up two brass inserts with 8mm diameter holes for the top and bottom shoulders of the rudder box. I will embed the head leaving just enough to shim out any play between box and hull, as you suggested there may be. By the way take it from me THERE IS quite a lot of shimmering of the rudder going on as it vibrates its way through the water. I took a video of Mickey's rudder doing it but don't think it would be appropriate to post it on Youtube....Pirate

As long as Mickey was wearing clothes when his rudder was vibrating, why not put it on youtube?

It does not show the rudder set-up of the AI in a good light and I don't think it is the appropriate place to air our dirty washing. If you have another AI handy to sail with, check it out yourself and you will be surprised just how much play and shimmering there actually is...Pirate

Pirate,

This is not dirty laundry. Putting the video on youtube doesn't make any difference to anybody in a negative sense. If it did attract a few negative comments, Hobie seems to handle those very well. On the other hand, it could be of interest to those of us who own Hobie AIs since, in my case, (1) I rarely (never) sail with another AI who could video my rudder, and (2) I cannot video my rudder myself w/o going to considerable effort and expense.

I thought the same thing as Tom--that there was something pornographic here. Since that does not seem to be the case, and you have mentioned the video on this forum, you have an obligation to post it where members of this forum can view it if they wish. It will be appreciated by me and, perhaps, others. I'm sure the Hobie people will take a look at it in an effort to learn something.

Most of us are here to help each other--that is the point.

Thanks,

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

please post video as i am in the same boat of not being able to see whats going on as i alone...hobie i am sure will address this professionally like they have done in the past

As I have just fitted a replacement pin, I intend to inspect it every 10 hours of sailing, and also keep a detailed log of the sailing conditions on every trip. I am hoping that this way we might come up with a sensible replacement interval.

Geoff.

yes that is a strategy, but use and conditions will dictate change over periods and may differ for individuals