Rudder upgrades

[krause]

Hi all,

Anyone that has listened to my crap knows ive done aloooot of work on my ebay kayak to make it more practical and user friendly. And im now considering upgrading the rudder. Currently it's your standard cheap 4m yak rudder that you see on all ebay/tackle store kayaks.

Im looking at a bigger blade, and the suing the material from the old blade to craft a new raising mechanism to cope with the extra wieght. Just wondering if anyone (most likely hobie owners) have upgraded to a bigger rudder, and if they thought it was worth it. Im trying to work out if it will give improved turning power or if it will just cause drag. And i guess at what size (horizontal depth/width) do you transition from turning power to drag.

Cheers guys. 

[Lungfai76]

First thing I upgraded when I got the outback.....the sailing rudder makes turning a breeze but I heard it makes the Yak whip like mad when you travel backwards. Can't wait to get the 180 drive so I can test 1/2 second 90 degree turns ?

Still got the original rudder....not sure if it's bigger than your eBay one but feel free to take it.

[krause]

Cheers mate, can i ask what the dimensions are? Im thinking I'll have to buy a hobie rudder blade but i think the standard one is shorter than my current one

[Lungfai76]

I'll measure it tomorrow and advise. As for length/height, not really what you want if you looking for turning, it's the width/depth or whatever it's called ? That is needed to grab the water and turn your boat. Or I could be wrong, been punks since I last did physics ?

[krause]

Youre correct, but looking at the hobbies i think my rudder mount is higher so i need a longer one to get down into the water in the first place

[Lungfai76]

Okay, the standard rudder that comes with the hobie is

14 top, 12 mid then 3 at bottom. 28 long

Sailing rudder is

16 mount 19 top, 16 mid 6-7 bottom. 37 long. The sailing rudders 16 mount is so the twist and stow action doesn't get affected.

Hobie has an even longer one called a dagger board used on there adventure islands I believe, twice as long as the sailing rudder and looks to be 13-14 from top to bottom.