The rudder cam on the starboard side of my boat won't lock by pushing on the tiller bar. I have to lock it down with my foot. My boat is a 1974 model and I believe the problem is the cam has been drilled out so many times it creates slop in the cam assembly so the cam sits back in the casting too far and the upper casting can't catch the cam to lock it in position. Any ideas how fix this problem without buying a new lower rudder casting?

Have you tried to adjust the spring tension on the lock assembly at all? There is a screw that you can apply more tension or reduce tension with. This screw is accessed from undernieth the cam in front of the rudder and you use a standard screwdriver.

The Skier

Oh yeah. I have the derlin screw adjusted so the rudder kicks up with about 16 pounds of pressure. That doesn't seem to be the problem, however. Regardless of the spring tension the cam sits back to far and the upper rudder casting won't catch it to lock it down.

When you mention that the cam had been drilled out a few times, do you meen that you have replaced the cam a few times?

I know that i just replaced my cams for the first time on my 73 H16 and they are very tight.

I believe that the you might be light on the kickup pressure. I was informed from another hobie sailer that the pressure needs to be set up around 20-25 pounds.

One other solution is to dismount your rudder, fill the hole that is there, and redrill the hole further forward on the rudder.

The Skier
1973 Hobie 16

Yes, the previous owner had changed cams by drilling out the rivets. The hole in the rudder casting has been enlarged as a result and I thought that might be related to cam sitting too far back. I don't know what one would use to fill in the aluminum and redrill or even if that is possible.

I'll tighten up the derlin screw and see if that helps. Thanks.

So you can actually move the cam back and forth before it starts to rotate over to the lock position.

Did the previos owner rivet the new cams in, or is a double screw being used to hold the new cam in place?

The Skier
1973 H16