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XL Twist & Stow Hobie rudder blade

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Wednesday, 13 June 2007

XL Steering rudder 4 Hobie yaks

Of the various modifications I've made to the Hobie Outback, one of the first I attended to was replacing the stock rudder blade with an oversized variation that dwarfs the original. If I was only fishing in rivers and lakes I wouldn't have bothered doing this, but for the sake of approx AU$35, for me the added tracking and turning capability has proven to be well worth the investment.

I started thinking about an alternative after a particularly windy encounter off Ricketts Point a few months ago. Wind was coming in hard from the northwest, and a good deal of it was being caught by my Environet, which acted much like a windsock. I was able to steer the yak with the standard rudder in these conditions but it wasn't as steady as I would have liked, which is why I took the path of upgrade. Upon installing the new rudder (as simple as unscrewing 3 screws, replacing the standard rudder with the new and screwing in 3 screws) and taking to the water, I found that the Outback's turning circle had improved to the point of being competitively comparable to the Hobie Sport.

Standard compared to XL rudder

The real test was in seeing how much difference it made to tracking capabilities. Perhaps the biggest complaint I could make about Hobie MirageDrive kayaks is that as simple as the steering system is to operate, it's not quite as simple to keep it tracking perfectly straight in some conditions. Especially when winds and currents are high, the rudder can be affected by these extraneous forces, dictating frequent readjustment of the steering lever. Although the problem isn't eliminated with the larger sized rudder blades, it is reduced.

Considering that I plan to take this Outback of mine into some places where others might hesitate, the benefits of increased tracking and manueverability matter a great deal to me. Anyone in my sort of situation would be well advised to consider doing the same. That said, mention should also be made that because the larger rudder blade is so much larger and heavier, operating it with the twist & stow lever requires a bit more consideration. Be wary of the added size when beaching, as the larger rudder will stick into sand in circumstances where the standard wouldn't.