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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:58 am 
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Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:38 am
Posts: 2
the twist and stow rudder on one of our new hobie mirage revolution 11's will not stay down now (after only a couple of uses) unless I lock it down in the cleat. Is there any adjustment to make it tighter so it will stay down without locking it in the cleat (don't want to lock it down in case we hit sumerged logs/shallows). Our other revo 11's rudder does stay down in place for normal paddling without locking it down.
Thanx for any help/suggestions.


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 2:40 pm 
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Joined: Wed May 28, 2003 1:12 pm
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The rudders are all designed to work by using the down cleat – they might stay locked down a little with only the detent notch being engaged – but the intent is for it to only stay down with the cleat being used.
Not sure why the other boat is staying down while this one is not – but they should both be the same – it might be a line tension difference, but we don’t have instructions on how to alter this as it isn’t intended to work the way you are describing your other Revo is. Might try loosening the up line, to release the tension that is pulling up on the rudder and see how that goes.

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:13 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2011 6:21 am
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There is a nut in the rudder that you can tighten just a little bit and it will make it stiffer. But I have to advice against that, as it will make it harder to lift the rudder.


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:42 pm 
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Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:17 pm
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Location: Auckland NZ
I think you will find that the rudder is designed to spring back if it hits a submerged object even if it is locked down in the cleat.

I have forgotten to uncleat mine when coming ashore several times :oops: - the rudder always folds back and no damage has been sustained to date.

So cleat the line to have it stay down and give credit to the Hobie designers who made it that way for you !


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:28 am 
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Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:38 am
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Thanks all for your advice. Indeed, looking at the up/down lines leaving the kayak, it appears that there is a large amount of slack in the down line, so thinking that a slight increase in the tension of the down line may cause the rudder to seat completely in the small indent (which is what i'm now thinking is the problem).
And I didn't realize that the rudder will still pop up if it hits something even if it is cleated down, but will certainly check that out because where we kayak regularly (coastal river areas in Florida or spring runs) has lots and lots of oyster beds or submerged logs, and shallows that, although we try to avoid, it is not always possible to see them (and certainly don't want damage to rudder as a result).


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:08 am 
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Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2005 10:46 pm
Posts: 3017
Location: Escondido
I recommend you do not adjust the up/down lines. The down slack is removed when the rudder is cleated, but is needed when raising the rudder. On the other hand, you should remove slack for left/right control when the rudder is down, locked and centered, but that's another matter.

There is a natural variation in ease of rudder lock-up because of slight thermal differences in the mold release process for the rudder blade and rudder housing. That's why the cleat is always recommended.

Some rudders can be difficult to lock/unlock, also due to this variation. When dropping the rudder in this circumstance, you can manually tension the rudder down line, gain a little speed, and swing the rudder left and right to lock in place, then cleat. That same rudder can be hard to unlock -- if so, reverse the procedure: pull on the up line while swinging the rudder control left to right (the lateral water pressure aids the process). 8)


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