Hobie Cat Forums

Ok, pretty confused here. I recently bought a 1989 Hobie 18 with the newer rudder style, and the tiller arms were slightly pointing towards the centerline of the boat (each pointing inwards). The older instruction guide also mentions this, and pictures I've seen seem to support this orientation. However, there are molded-in impressions on the inside of the upper castings, showing a L on the right side casting and R on the left side casting. Backwards. Thinking about it, having the tiller arms pointing OUTwards makes more sense. It would cause the rudder on the inside of a turn to have more turn angle than the rudder on the outside of the turn, just like you see on a car. With the "inward pointing" tillers, the exact opposite is happening. The rudder on the inside of the turn is getting LESS movement. What am I missing?

Thanks, Mark

That's very interesting ... and I've never heard of those markings before.

My tiller arms are slightly "canted" inward .... and I adjust/set my rudders so that there is about 1/8" (if that) "toed in" ..... not much at all.

My helm is almost neutral .... w/ a "slight" weather helm so the boat will slowly head up if I fall off.

Trick: My rudder bolts are install bolthead outboard ... Nyloc nuts on the inboard side .... this tells me quickly which side is which .... and if I fall off the boat I can't get scratched up by the rudder bolts .... I also cut of any excess bolt sticking out and file all sharp edges ....

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HarryMurphey
H-18 mag/ #9458
Fleet 54 Div 11

I took two pictures, one from the top, which shows a bend to the left. Most would say this must be the right casting. The second picture shows the "L" molded into the casting. The other casting has an "R" in the same spot. Unfortunately I just realized that I can't post the pictures directly here.

The bottom line on rudder angle is that they should be parallel or slightly toe in. If you can get that with the rudders oriented "tiller arms" pointing inward to the center of the hull, you're done. (I mean according to the Hobie mfg/designers).

But I see what you are saying. I need to see this on the boat as my head is too gummed up today to mentally think about this.

Even if it was true, it would only be advantageous if you were sailing big arcs. As it is, you are only turning the rear end on a short tack only. I think the hulls rear's want to be turned the same amount.

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H18, H17 & Various motor boats

I'm interested to hear an answer on this because my 86 arms/castings are exactly the same..

On the old style castings, there is no inward "cant" to the tiller arms, they are parallel and there is no port/starboard casring, they are the same on both sides.

On the new style castings (post 1987), there is a port and a starboard upper casting. The tiller arms should point inward.

sm

I received a response from Hobie indicating that the L and R designations were from the casting company and are backwards from how they should be installed. L goes on the right and and R goes on the left, making the tiller arms point inwards.