My lower rudder castings are different?

Howdy all!

Bought my '78 H16 a few weeks ago and have been going out as often as possible (20-30 hours on the water so far); we're very lucky to have a beautiful lake 15 minutes away.

As I'm getting the feel for everything, I'm trying to make improvements / repairs where possible. This is my boat to learn on for the summer, then hopefully will pick up something newer with the Aussie, 6:1, etc...

The boat has pretty mean weather helm, and some slop in the rudders, so I wanted to start there. Also the boat seems to act a bit like a tractor when on a starboard tack on a close reach. By tractor I mean, it will fly a hull, but it's going a lot slower than on the same reach on port tack. I'm thinking this might also be caused by badly adjusted rudders?

I had a closer look today as I was going to pull the rudders and possibly fill / drill, but it looks like part of the problem could be due to having different lower rudder castings? The port side has smooth rounded edges and is stamped with "US & Foreign Patents Pend", the starboard side has much more clearly defined edges and does not have this stamp. They have different amounts of material where they meet the upper rudder casting. The port side tiller tube also appears to have a rounded bend in it, as opposed to (I think) the more normal single bend (as on the starboard side).

Port side (notice smoothed lower casting, bend in tiller tube)



Better view of tiller tube, on lower casting, upper-most part of casting where it contacts upper casting is much thicker than on starboard side.



Starboard side



Incidentally, can anyone tell me if these rudders are ABS or the later Lexan based on their appearance? They seem to almost have a "wood grain" appearance to them (obviously not wood). Also they have two round dots in the middle of the rudder, possibly mold release points / punches? They're about 3/8" in diameter.

Appreciate any insight(s) you can share!

_________________
1978 H16 - "Banana Split"
2004 Hobie Bravo - "Cheap Thrills" [Sold]

May be original ABS blades by the look... those fail at the bottom of the casting when they go. Lexan has a finer grain look and is much tougher. I think the change was away from ABS withing the first 5 years of H16s.

No idea on the castings. Maybe someone had one made or did some sanding.

Rake of the rudders and the cams holding them down are the likely issues with the weather helm feel.

Read the Rudder FAQ here: http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=467

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

Hey Matt!

Thanks for the reply - and all of your service to the community.

Are the EPO3 the only option, or is it possible to get Lexan rudders from Hobie?

Not sure why someone would sand it to round the edges, but I get your point. I thought maybe it was from a different era / model Hobie. What do you make of the material thickness between the upper and lower castings? It's throwing off the port rudder by quite a bit. You guys have any old lower castings that I could pick up to get consistency between the sides or is Ebay my best bet?

Cheers

_________________
1978 H16 - "Banana Split"
2004 Hobie Bravo - "Cheap Thrills" [Sold]

I wouldn't be to concerned about the castings themselves. Make the cams work properly and check the rudder rake. You might have to plug and re-drill a hole or two... all the rudder cam / rake FAQ.

We have Nylon rudders now that work well as basics... EPO3 is awesome, but not necessary.

20493000 RUDDER BLADE - WHITE NYLON

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

The "rounded" casting is a very old Hobie 14 casting (pre 1970) and was probably put on as a replacement when the original casting was lost.

But it should still work.

Hobie no longer sells Lexan blades, but they do have alternatives to the EPO3. You might be better off searching for fiberglass / old EPOs on eBay. Plastic rudders are not recommended on a Hobie 16.