Tight steering in a 2015 Hobie Outback

The steering on my 2015 Hobie Outback is very stiff and with arthritis in my left hand the steering can at times be fairly painful for me. This is the 3rd Outback that I have owned and have not experienced this issue in the others. I'm reluctant to start untying or loosening the steering cables without a good idea of what I am doing so I thought that maybe others may have experienced this problem and might be able to guide me through the sequence to free up the steering.

Sounds like the lines might be twisted on the inside of the yak... reach in and follow the lines to the back of the area where they pass through the deck to the rudder... most of the time you only have to untwist the lines. And sometimes they are wedged in between the yak insides? not sure what to call that area.

If you do not find a twist. then remove the cover of the rudder lines in the back area and see what looks to be wrong. Sometimes there is an issue with the lines coming through the hull or deck area....

Good Luck

my 2015 and a friends 2015 were both tight from the factory. We loosened them a bit at the rudder and all is well. There is a Phillips head screw with the cord wrapped around it, loosen and adjust-loosen the cord just a little and try the feel again. I found it was still firm at center and then loosened up nicely when turning the handle off of center. This way the yak holds straight and turns only if you want it to.