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 Post subject: Locking your rudder down
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 3:08 am 
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Location: Hervey Bay Qld Australia ( formally UK)
When your sailing when/why do you lock your rudder down, rough chop? long bouts so straight line sailing? and can you still steer in the locked position, in lock turning left to right and vice versa feels a bit tight to me...

Happy sailing

Roller

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 3:52 am 
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Location: Victoria, Australia
As soon as my rudder is folded down its locked in even on the calmest of days, If it's fairly belting/very choppy then I will also screw the locking screw down (mine is the old 07 model) for extra bite.
The reason it probably feels softer when not locked down, is the rudder is probably folding up and not working properly.


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 8:47 am 
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Roller wrote:
When your sailing when/why do you lock your rudder down, rough chop? long bouts so straight line sailing? and can you still steer in the locked position, in lock turning left to right and vice versa feels a bit tight to me...

Happy sailing

Roller


Your steering lines are likely too tight... and maybe you pull too much tension on the down control line before cleating. Steering should be easier / smooth.

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 12:40 pm 
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Thanks Matt

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 5:57 pm 
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Also check inside the hull the little ferrules on the ends of the tubes where the steering lines run through. On my boat these came out and lines were running rough.

Might be a good idea to glue these in to stop them coming out????

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 8:12 pm 
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Location: Kailua 96734
Matt, could you post the correct procedure and sequence for adjusting the up down and steering lines?

The documentation is not helping me understand the "order" in which things should be done.

Since several adjustment points interact with each other, it would be helpful to hear how you would approach the steps needed to fine tune a new AI/TI (for proper tension and left/right balance).

Preciate it.

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PostPosted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 6:11 pm 
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Matt has posted some info on that, but I couldn't find them... might be a good idea to put it in the "Island FAQ / Technical Page" section perhaps Matt?

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 11:08 am 
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We are beyond the problems which required tension in the steering system when using the bungee hold down and the new rudder pin.

If a boat has not been upgraded, the issue was when the down line has to be really tight to keep the rudder down. This causes the rudder to pull to a left turn. To help hold it... we added tension to the steering lines till the rudder system had enough friction to stop it from simply flopping left when you let go of the steering handle.

With the rudder upgrade in place you don't even need to cleat the rudder down, so the tension in the steering system is not needed. If you use the cleat and line tension to keep the rudder down... the new pin keeps the lines aligned over the rudder pin and the rudder does not flop left, so again... no excess steering tension is required. Simply remove the slack from the steering system to assure responsive steering.

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 26, 2010 5:53 pm 
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My question pertains to the procedure, in clear "cookbook" form, for adjusting proper up/down tension and rudder steering tension on legacy AI's.

Each adjustment point, (including the drum and internal bungee) effects the others, so there must be a preferred way to do it.

Where do you start and end, in chronological order?

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:59 am 
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I have a Twist and Stow guide here:

http://www.hobiecat.com/support/articles/archive/?src=http://2010.archive.hobiecat.com/support/tech/Twist-n-Stow_Repair_Manual.html

This is way more than what you need though.

Step by step... depends on how deep you want to go, but basics would be:

First - Assure function of the Up/Down line system and locking hook which involves checking the drum bolt tension.

Second - adjust the steering lines to center the rudder to the control handle position. Adjust the line tension to your personal feel. More tension is more friction which will tend to help hold the rudder in a specific spot when you let go of the control handle.

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 9:06 pm 
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Thanks Matt.

Couple things I have observed, and wondered if they are right.

1. Should there be "slack" in the drum halves, so that you can push them together and they compress, then expand about 1/16-1/8"? I found that mine flexed in/out enough to create some wobble in the cleated rudder.

Everything seems fine otherwise. But the phrase "tight as a drum" makes me concerned about it.

2. When the steering lines are tensioned properly and you manually turn the rudder as far as it will go each direction with your hands, how much slack is acceptable on the non-tensioned side?

3. There always seems to be 1/2" of rudder travel beyond the range of the tiller control. Maybe a bit more on the starboard side. Is it possible to achieve close to 100% edge to edge turning radius through the tiller or is this the way the T&S is supposed to feel?

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 9:24 am 
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Yes, some slack / wobble in the drum halves is acceptable.

I think slack in one line at the full turn position is not a big deal. I would rather have less tension in the line system for easier steering. I used an Oasis recently with stiff steering (too much tension) and didn't like the feel.

The rudder is more of a break when turned too far, so maximum turn is not ideal. We even created a block (full turn preventer) on one of our cats to limit the turn because it causes problems.

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 2:20 pm 
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Great feedback. Thank you.

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