OK, I know I could easily find the answer, myself, ...But we need some activity on this board to get things hopping.
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<br>My H-16 rudder pins are well worn. I'd like to make my own, instead of buying them. What are the measurements for the pins: diameter of aluminum rod, length of rod, and size of the little holes the cotter pins go in, and distance between the little holes ???
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<br>Should I consider using something else besides aluminum ???<br><br>Jeff Peterson
<br>H-16 Sail #23721
<br>Big Marine Lake, MN

Jeff,
<br>These pins are SO cheap (less than 10 bucks a pair) that it may cost you more to make them rather than buying new pins. If you sail on the beach you might want to consider the plastic/fiberglass pins since they are "sacrifice" pins and will break before your boat does. Hobie also has stainless steel pins if you care for their durability.<br><br>

Jeff, I don't have the measurements right now but I think it's 3/8" dia. aluminum rod. I picked up an old 16 to teach my kids to sail on and wanted some cheap spares. I picked up a length of aluminum rod for about $5 and was able to make 6 sets of rudder pins. It took me all of about 15 minutes to do. I figure I'll never have to buy/make another set. I also like to keep spares on hand if someone breaks one, Lord knows people have done it for me in the past.
<br>I'll try to get the lengths for you.
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<br>Clayton
<br>H20, H16<br><br>

Beware the fiberglass rudder pins! In my experience (granted, on a Hobie-18) the pins self destructed from normal sailing in about 20-25 knots of wind, causing the loss of an entire rudder assembly - and they were brand new at the start of the day. The stainless ones were also problematic - they are hollow (another sacrificial design) - they deformed under normal sailing loads and required quite a bit of creativity to remove once this happened. The standard aluminum pin seems to work best, but don't offer the safety of sacrificing themselves - but the other options don't seem viable to me. Is it different for a 16? Maybe, but I would think a high mast rake setup in decent winds would put enough load on them to worry.<br><br>

At Hi-Tempo, in White Bear, MN, the pins were $8.50 each. (This is my first reply to a reply on this new forum. Let's see where it ends up.)<br><br>Jeff Peterson
<br>H-16 Sail #23721
<br>Big Marine Lake, MN