Weather Helm; Rudder Adjustment

My boat has pretty fierce weather helm. I mean, I have to REALLY hold on like a gorilla to the tiller once we get moving. I looked at the Hobie publication which says I can adjust the rake of the rudders forward to reduce weather helm. It talks about an adjusting screw on the rudder castings but there is no such thing on mine! Is there any other way to adjust the rudder rake? Am I missing something? By the way, we usually rig the shrouds into the 3rd hole from the top which gives a fair amount of mast rake. Any help is appreciated!

If you do a search for the rudder adjustment to reduce weather helm you should find the solution. I think Matt Miller has placed an in-depth article on how to adjust the rudder's rake (old or new systems).
Hope that helps

I read some thing once about switching your rudder castings. as in there is a left and a right. I mean port and starbord.
-just a thought

-chris

Okay, I guess I didn't look hard enough but Matt Miller has a lot of great detail and info on the subject at:
http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=467
Bottom line: Some of the older rudders don't have the adjustment screw and must be re-drilled to change the rake.
By the way, I have in the past put the rudders on the wrong sides. My boat was like a race horse pulling a plow--it wanted to take off but the rudders kept plowing in. I have since marked a P and and S on them so I don't make that mistake again. Thanks for the help.

Chas man: Rememberin back to my first hobie it took both arms to hold a heading.....soon i found out that the cam mechanism wasnt working at all and the rudders were not fully down. I was new and thought i wasnt strong enough to sail her. Now i know you can drop the tiller extension in the water and it will still point......if you got the rudders fully locked down

I was reading the thread and was surprised to hear there is a port and starboard rudder. I was unaware of this. How does one identify the difference between a port and starboard rudder on an H16?


Dave

If you look at the tiller on each rudder casting you can tell. With the casting going "straight" forward as it would when sailing straight the tiller should cant inward. If you have this reversed, then with the tiller extension centered the rudder blades will be towed outward. Check for this when the boat is on the beach or on the trailer. I keep the rudders up so any difference is more pronounced.

Basically, with the rudders up and the tiller extension centered, both rudder blades should be perpendicular to thier respective transom.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

Nick,

Yes I have noticed and understood this. I mistakenly thought you were saying that there is a port and starboard rudder. ie. just the rudder itself without the assembly/tiller arms.

Dave

The rudder castings allowing for adjustable rudder rake came in style in the 80's. Depending on the desired rudder rake you might run out of adjustability real fast. For some time I dealt with quiet some weather helm (rudder blade raked forward as far as possible). When I got my new rudder blades I removed some material on the inside of the lower rudder casting in order to allow the rudder to swing even further forward. It might be possible that the new replacement rudder castings are shaped in the same way since a lot of mast rake is in style.

Patrick

You can always plug and redrill the rudder blades to move the range of adjustment for the rake.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO