Steerage

My Getaway naturally steers down wind. I have to really struggle to push tiller to point the boat higher into the wind. So I’m thinking my rigging needs adjusting. Do I adjust the mast rake, or the position of the clew hook, or the rudders.?
A hobbies should sail straight with ease; whereas, I’m really pushing hard on the tiller to attempt to keep the boat running straight.
Any suggestions?

On both tacks? Mast rake aft.

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

Correct. The Getaway naturally pulls downwind on both tacks.

Are you sailing with the jib pulled in tight and the main relatively loose, or traveled out? That would upset the balance of the boat making it want to turn downwind. Both sails need to have a similar trim for any given point of sail for the boat to be balanced.

Otherwise, rake the mast back like Matt suggests.

sm

We sailed with both sails at a beam reach or close reach as it was impossible for me to maintain steerage at a close haul.
Lifelong sailors but new to Hobie sailing, I’m eager to fix this problem. To adjust the rake, I simply secure the forestay a little tighter down on the 9 hole bracket, correct? It’s currently at the second from top hole. Any adjustments needed to the shrouds?
Thanks for your help.

Boat wants to turn downwind if you let go of the tiller while trying to claw your way upwind. Lee helm. Correct that by raking the mast further aft. So you check the length of your forestay. It seems to be not long enough. Did you forget the steel O ring or the shackle? When you adjust the length of the forestay, you will also have to tighten the shrouds on both sides. Other things to check. Are the rudders not all the way down? Is your jib fat and loose along the luff? Do you have the mainsail sheeted so it is tight like a board? Check the skegs under the hulls-are they straight and no pieces missing?

If possible, find another Hobie Getaway sailor near you and compare your setup with his/hers. If you live near San Francisco, I can come look.

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R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II

Thank you very much! I’ll check on the items you’ve mentioned. Unfortunately, we’re not near San Francisco for you to take a look at our setup.

To clarify, in order to rake the mast back, you need to extend the forestay (i.e., more holes of the adjuster plate exposed out of the top of the furler drum). Then you need to tighten (lower) the shroud wires on each side to take any slop out of the rig. The idea is to move the center of effort of therig farther aft. As an expirement, you could try sailing with the main only and the jib furled. That would eliminate all effect of the jib trying to pull the bows downwind. See how the helm feels in that configuration.

If that still doesn’t fix the problem, you can try raking the rudders back in the housings (move the bottom tip of the rudder aft).

sm

Thank you. I’ll try these suggestions