Rudder Control Handle Broken

Aloha I was wondering if anyone else has had a problem with the steering control handle and the little brass fitting that holds the set screw in place. I bought an Adventure about 3 weeks ago. And about 3 minutes into my maiden voyage the brass fitting popped out and the steering crank fell into the hull of the kayak. I contacted my local Hobie dealership and they seemed to be helpful and supposedly a replacement handle is on its way to Hawaii with my name on it. But I was wondering if this is a problem that I may expect to see again. I would appreciate any help as I am new to the Hobie line and although I have this problem, I'm looking to get a Revolution as well.

Aloha 808freediver,

Which island are you on? Who's your dealer? Here on Maui, we have at least a dozen AI's and I haven't heard of a problem with that knob. We use to have problems with the up/down knob in the first years AI's, but they were upgraded, and finally replaced with the up & down pull handles.

Do check, tighten and adjust everything on your Adventure as sometimes they don't make the journey over here well.

Kayaking Bob

Kayaking Bob; Thanks for the reply; I think tightening the knob at this point would be for Knot; as the brass insert that the set-screw screws into is not secured any longer. (Say that three time fast!) BTW I’m on Oahu. My attempt to fix the problem initially was to heat up the brass collar and pushed it back into the plastic handle, it seemed to work pretty well for about 20 minutes; and as it did previously: the brass collar popped out again.
I talked to the sales woman (Lorraine) at Windward boats, I’ll say this: she has a great attitude and is really trying to help. As I mentioned she called someone at Hobie a week and a few days ago, then she told me a “newâ€

808freediver:

Hobie uses a new up/down control arm (part #81392001) which is drilled through and comes with a bolt for attaching the handle. This replaces the design that simply relied on a dimple in the control arm and a set screw. You might check to make sure the new style up/down control arm was ordered for you, and not the old style.

Some of us fill the cavity of the handle with epoxy. This should make the handle nearly indestructible.

With the new style control arm and the epoxy, these parts will last a long long time.

Good luck.

Correction -- I'm not sure Hobie makes a steering control arm that is drilled-through to accept a bolt. You might check with your dealer. I thought you were talking about the up/down control arm. Sorry about that.

I was a where and read about that mod for the up/down control arm. As a matter of fact, the local dealer said it's the first they have ever heard of this problem with the steering control lever. But thanks for your reply just the same. Aloha

You shouldn't have to make these kind of mods to a new yak. That sucks. You can drill through and pin the handle though. The two methods are very common and the set screw one is just cheaper/easier so it is used more. Drill through and pin shouldn't cause any problems. You don't need a huge pin so ruining the steel post shouldn't be a problem. A 1/8" diameter pin should last forever without breaking.

If your new handle isn't here yet, you should be bugging your dealer a bit more. Call and ask them about it. They are going to wait around for it unless you call and remind them that it should be there already. Then they will remember and call around to see whats up.

This isn't a common problem though I don't think so hopefully you just got a bad part and the new one will solve your problem.

I do feel like I shouldn't have to make the mods and that the good folks at the manufactureing have a better setup in mind. For example how about designing an "L" shapped lever. one that has a grip, that fits in the palm of your hand and you can use more then your thumb and fore fingure to mover the rudder. Make the grip part hinged so it would lay down when not in use. I haven't gotten there yet; but I would imagine after 8 hours in the water sailing; your thumb would be toast.

With the old sailing rudder that was true, but with the newer sailing rudder (with the notch) you should have, it's like power steering. You can find a bunch of mods including some for the rudder handle over at Kayak Fishing Stuff. http://kfs.infopop.cc/eve

Kayaking Bob