AI steering.........

[hackonayak]

Hey guys this is one for the AI owners......went out yesterday in 10 knts of breeze and had real trouble with the steering, the yak wanted to pull left and it was real hard work keeping the nose pointing where i needed it to go also i noticed as the yak started to get up some speed the rudder would lift and inhibit the steering even more! Do u guys have to adjust the steering lines every now and then or is there an upgrade kit like i had to get for my PA The rudder lifting is a whole other problem! ...cheers guys Paul

[SteveB]

Dumb question time, but does the AI come standard with a sailing rudder?

[madfishman]

when it comes to questions like that the best person is Scott Lovig at SLH. he has many yrs sailing experience and be able to tell you straight away and wont beat around the bush..

[cruiser]

This is a dumb answer but have you locked in the rudder at the control in the yak and if you have sounds like the lines need adjusting if the rudder is kicking back

[GoneFishn]

How old is the AI? There is a new designed rudder for the A/TI's I think it was released last year.
If its no good Ill take it of your hands

[Dognut]

Hey paul,
First thing, lock your rudder down line into the cleat tight. It wont lift. Secondly, if your having trouble with the steering, then your sail is out of trim. Your tell tales need to be doing the same thing on both sides of the sail. When the sail is trimmed, the rudder will work without much more than a light hand. Thirdly five minutes with scotty will get you going.
I have had that boat in more than 30 knots and not had the problems your talking about.

[hackonayak]

Hey thanks guys the lines do look like they may need adjustment...(slack as hessian jocks) it has the bigger rudder on it but the main thing is that I'm getting massive load on the rudder which means my trim has been out to buggery.....thanks for ur replies been a big help cheers Paul

[tonystott]

The newer rudder in particular has a large section at the bottom front of the blade which is ahead of the rudder pin when the rudder is fully down. This forward section is critical, as it acts as a "servo" to directly reduce the effort of holding the blade out to one side (the principal is best illustrated if you imagine the pin had equal amounts of rudder front and back. It would be relative easy to turn the rudder. Now remove all the material in front of the pin and the loads would go up massively.

All of this is to say that you MUST ensure that the rudder is fully locked down. If your island is an earlier model with a twist and stow rudder, you need to strap it down with the provided bungee (which is a pain when in shallow water, but worth it for sailing efficiency).

[Yakass]

Yep, rudder not cleated down. Most common mistake new AI owners make. Actually, most common mistake Hobie kayakers make full stop.