Trailering with rudders on?

deoends on the cat.. many come off easly.. some don't

i used to bungee up my hobie rudders (16 and 18) as they would not come off easly.

i remove my mystere rudders because the come off easy, and there is no way to secure them in the UP position

I trailered my H16 rudders on for years. I would bungy the cross bar down to the trailer, seemed to work well and like Andrew said they are not easy to take off. When I trailer my H18 I take the rudders off, but also put the H20 quick disconnect for the rudder to cross bar connection so I can quickly take the cross bar off. Makes removing them much easier since you have 3 seperate pieces instead of one big hinged assembly to hold.

I've been trailering my 18 with the rudders on, but to fit the boat in my garage they have to come off. I've ordered the H20 connectors and so I expect to be taking them off to trailer once the connectors are installed.

the gudgeons are made of high quality stainless steel, the rudder pins are mostly aluminum, I just replaced my pins with stainless steel ones, the aluminum pins were so loose my rudders would rattle around, new ss pins sweet, aluminum is a softer metal and tends to wear faster. I always double bungee my tiller crossbar to the rear crossbar, no worries mate. But if I'm going on a roadtrip of many miles, then I will dismantle and stow the rudders. 😎

One tip for Hobie rudders. Once you have the quick release H20 style connectors to make it easy to remove the cross bar. Then just remove the one bolt that connects the rudder blade to the casting stern casting, leave the other casting and tiller arm attached to the rudder.

I've found this much easier than removing the rudder pin each time, I've spent quite a bit of time sweating and swearing when trying to insert or remove a rudder pin that "looks perfect" but just won't allow itself to be installed.

I trailer my H16 with the rudders on, and bungee the tiller to the cross bar. I havent had any issues. Between the beach and home, there are two intersections that cause my trailer to bounce quite a bit. Its never caused my rudders to drop.

You must trailer with rudders OFF...due to harmonic vibrations transmitted from the continuously oscillating vibration dampering system on the trailer thus transmiting the fulcrum force of the rudders directly to the rudder pins.....JK
....usually someone chimes in with an overly technical answer that isn't 100% correct 😆 😆 😆

I have traveled hundreds of miles with mine on....just make sure there is a red flag or marker so that another car doesn't hit it!!!

On my H18 I put a maybe 4" round red 3M reflective sticker on the top of the mast. Had to notch it slightly to fit around the halyard pulley. A little harder with the H16 mast top casting. But I liked the idea of a reflector at the furthest rear point of my boat when on a trailer. I found that easier and brighter then a red flag I would always loose or forget to put on.

I keep my spin pole on my boat for trailering (its only 2' further than the mast)

i cut up red plastic bags and tie them around a clip. Makes for easy removal.

I often end up leaving the beach at or after sunset (since i sail all day on weekend) so i usually attach my camping head lamp to the end of the pole and adjust it so the red light is facing backwards... i really don't want some jerk driving into my pole...

My G Cat's rudders have "snap down" locking... I tie a small piece of line around the two aluminum sections to ensure they do not unsnap and drop the rudder. Even if it did fall.... my trailer is high enough that the rudders would not strike the pavement.

My old sole cat was totally different. The first time I pulled it one rudder dropped and ground the leading corner off a bit.

Raised rudders look cool on a trailered cat... but by law there is supposed to be flags on them. Mine are yellow... if I got stopped... I think I could talk my way out of it since yellow is the color of caution.

Only need to mark the furthest point back on the trailer if it is a certain distance past the trailer lights, which all our boats stick past the lights. For me the mast was always about the same distance as the rudders, so I would mark the mast.

edited by: smfinley, Aug 19, 2009 - 09:38 PM

All good to know, the mast is what sticks out the furthest on my boat and I usually tie a red flag to it.

I was rear ended with my rudders on in downtown mobile. but the only thing that happened it that person had a hug white mark on his hood. My trac 14 rudders are stout. i am not as sure if my hobie 18 would have survived.