Author Topic: Equal the distance of others during the race  (Read 1760 times)

teamalty

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Equal the distance of others during the race
« on: June 07, 2010, 06:07:06 AM »
Ok, so I'm new at this. Entered two flat water races and placed well, but my competitors tell me I'm all over the course and doing a ton of extra miles. I have a 17' Naish Glide with rudder, and it seems to work really when paddling right side and rudder on. When I move to the left side paddle, I make a right hand turn, maybe make three strokes, and need to go back to the right side. The adjustments on this puppy, cable and tightners, are tough to get just on.  After the rudder is moved by hand, the angle never really comes back to center--I was thinking that could be the problem--I've tightened the cables and shortened the adjuster so I can barely move the arm. Any help? Would like to equal the distance of fellow paddlers. Smile.

DavidJohn

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Re: Equal the distance of others during the race
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2010, 06:39:13 AM »
I've moved my steering arm (boomerang) all the way forward on the board and it's helped a lot with yawing.

I think the board yaws alot because the standing position is way back of center and having the rails very soft would also contribute slightly imo.

Also check the fit between the rudder shaft and the plate that sits on top of it.

If there's any play between the square shaft and the square hole in the plate the rudder will be free to wobble.

DJ

PonoBill

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Re: Equal the distance of others during the race
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2010, 07:42:24 AM »
If you tighten the cable adjusters too much the rudder will be sticky and won't return to neutral. You want a minimal amount of wobble with no stickiness. It's better to have the rudder with a little bit of slop than to have the cables be sticky. The rudder probably self-centers a little if the cables are slightly loose, but can't when you have it cinched down tight. 
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

teamalty

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Re: Equal the distance of others during the race
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2010, 04:05:11 PM »
Thanks you guys, and I did tighten the yoke to stem on rudder first, but that wasn't it.  I paddled eight today with the new set up: cables are tight, but not too tight I hope because the rudder centers very well. Was able to get eight to ten strong strokes a side, and that's a ton better than before.  I also added a weed-deflect button to the board because I was picking up tooooo much junk.  I even tried moving foward where my heels are even with the hand hole, but that didn't seem to make any difference. I'm only 5'8", 145 so I can probably stand anywhere on that puppy and not make a dent in trim. It really is nice to know that improvements will help.  Since I would like to be able to fine tune the adjusters, could one tie a knot in the cable to shorten and/or gain better positioning on the adjuster screws, or whatever they call them. Thanks again,

DavidJohn

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Re: Equal the distance of others during the race
« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2010, 04:36:40 PM »
It may also be something that you will get used to.. I did a big paddle the other day with a group of friends and we paddled out into the center of our bay.

I noticed then that I could paddle for as long as I like on either side without any problem or using the rudder.

Here's a few pics from that day.. I climbed up onto a shipping channel beacon and took some pics looking down on the others.. I loved looking down on my Naish 17 from up there.

DJ








 


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