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PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 7:19 pm 
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Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2011 8:37 am
Posts: 118
Hi, somehow my rear tiller (the rear grey handle) got misaligned. In Other words, it is no longer straight in line with the axis of the hull when the rudder is straight. The front tiller handle is in line.

How do I adjust this to get the rear tiller handle in line with the axis of the boat when the rudder is dead straight?

Also, I was sailing today with a buddy of mine in 13 to 17knot winds. A couple of times when the wind was really whipping. We found it amazingly difficult to haul the main sheet. (Pulling on the black rope from the back seat), became nearly impossible. Is this normal? Is this simply the force of the wind on the sail, or is my line getting hung up somewhere? Have others experienced this sensation? My buddy thought the sheet was getting bound on one of the pulleys, but this seemed to not be the case.

Also, my buddy who has considerably more sailing experience than me expressed the opinion hat the rudder was undersized for the boat. We both have had problems getting the boat to respond at times when it's really blowing and the boat is under full power. In other words no matter how hard you turn the rudder, the boat is very hesitant to move in that direction when under full power in hard wind. Is this also normal?

Thanks!

By the way I'm referring to a 2012 TI.


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 7:22 pm 
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Location: High Point, NC
Yes, in good wind, the force required to sheet in tight is pretty stout. You can change your system to a 3 to 1 system which helps a bit, but then you have pull a little more line to make the same adjustment. I greatly prefer the 3 to 1 system.

You can still operate the 3 to 1 from either set. Just use the same sheet. The guy in front handles it further forward, that's all.

I haven't found the rudder undersized. With sails pulling, I find it to respond exceptionally well. I wonder if something has slipped and perhaps you're not actually turning the rudder as far as you think you are, thus leading to the feeling that it's not providing the response you expect.


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:14 pm 
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Location: Forster, NSW, Australia
As Tom said.. I often need both hands to pull the mainsheet in when it is blowing pretty strongly.

Also, I tend to furl the sail a bit when it is blowing harder, as the TI seems to go faster with a smaller sail area (and the leeward ama not fully buried). This also makes the rudder more effective.

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2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 7:29 am 
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Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2011 8:37 am
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How would I find information on rigging 3 to 1?

Also I just looked through the manual that shipped with my boat, and there is no mention of how to replace or adjust the tiller handles. Or how to rig at 3 to 1. I'm not saying that it should be in the manual, I'm just wondering if there is someplace where info like these two issues exist.


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 8:22 am 
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Joined: Thu Oct 04, 2012 5:41 pm
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Location: Aussie living in San Diego, CA
leelanauX one thing to check when sailing your TI in strong wind (or any wind really) is to make sure the rudder is fully locked down. If it is down but not quite fully locked down it becomes incredibly difficult to turn it. This has happened to me a couple of times and is very disconcerting if you are not aware of it. On the sheet load - also check that the sheet is not twisted when connecting it to the sail. Just a half twist will mean that the sheet is rubbing against itself and under pressure its amazing how much friction it can add when trying to pull the sheet in stronger winds. Again - its something that has happened to me a few times and each time when I checked I saw that the sheet had a slight twist in it (about 90 degrees) and was causing much of the resistance.

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 9:34 am 
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Location: Delaware
leelanauX wrote:
How would I find information on rigging 3 to 1?


Starts on page 13 [url]http://www.hobie-cat.net/download/manuels/tandem_gb.pdf‎[/url]


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 1:43 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:28 pm
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Regarding the handle misalignment - I just got my TI and on the 2nd time out, I felt something pop, the rudder went unresponsive and the handle was slack. Turns out the line came off the post at the rudder horn...fairly easy fix, but then the handles were misaligned about 30 degrees. The rudder rigging runs like this: From the rudder horn, one rudder line runs for'd to the aft tiller handle bellcrank, then another line goes from that bellcrank to the for'd one, then another line runs a bit forward to a block, and then all the way aft to the opposite rudder horn.

The attachments at the tillers used a swaged fitting (with dyneema?), and when the rudder line had popped off, the line also slipped at the swage (essentially putting slack between the handles). When I re-tensioned the line at the rudder, i was left with the tiller misalignment.

Since when the line slipped at the rudder post it shredded badly, I returned it to the dealer for replacement, and at the same time had them re-rig the tiller handles properly. Between that and persistent sail issues my initial experience with the TI has not been great. Fortunately it seems to be worked out now. Unfortunately since the fittings at the tiller are swaged, it's very difficult to fix without re-rigging (hopefully someone in the peanut gallery will have more insight on this).

I'll concur that the rudder must bee fully down and locked - the rudder area for'd of the pin is essential to balance the steering forces. If you are getting unmanageable weather helm with strong winds and the rudder is full down, then you probably need to reef the sail. Sheeting out may help as well as it will move the CE for'd and relieve some weather helm (although also slowing you down...and if you're full-sail in a strong wind with the sail fully sheeted in, you probably like going fast).

Hope this helps.
-RH

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