How to set up the SIC ASS (Assisted Steering System)

When you unpack a new SIC production board, you get the steering system in the form of a bunch of loose parts in a nice bag with no instructions.  If you have never seen a rudder system installed it can be quite difficult to figure out how to do this correctly.
You don't want to find out that you did not do it right in the middle of a race or when you are a few miles offshore.
I have put quite a few of these together over the years and took some pictures to help others assemble it properly.  Ask your dealer to do this for you if they know what to do, or you can do it yourself by following these steps.

Since I wrote this post, SIC has come out with this video on how to install the rudder, so watch this (in addition to checking the photos in this post) and you will have no trouble installing the rudder system.

The SIC ASS- make sure you have all the parts

The SIC board will have cables installed for regular and goofy foot steering.   Pull out the cable you don't need and save it in case you want to switch the steering in the future.  The cable can be re-threaded later.

Put the rudder in the board and check to make sure it is square.  Sometimes the rudder tube is not exactly square.  This one is slightly off, if it was exactly square it would be parallel with the grey wood trim behind it but it slants a little to the right.  Not enough to have an effect on performance, so I did not worry about it.  If it's way off, you may have to put the rudder in a padded vise and bend the rudder stem with a steel pipe that fits over the stem.  You have to be very careful not to damage the rudder when doing this, don't attempt to do it without a vise.  You can do the same thing if your rudder stem ever gets bent (can happen if you hit the reef or the rudder gets bent in the shore break).  If the rudder itself gets damaged, it needs to be replaced.

These are the parts needed to attach the rudder wheel to the rudder stem.

I find it easiest to attach the wheel to the rudder stem with the board upside down so the rudder can't drop out of the board.  If you have it right side up, you will need someone to hold the rudder while you attach the wheel.  Put the plastic washers on the rudder stem as spacers, then attach the wheel by screwing the bolt into the threaded hole in the rudder stem.

Turn the board right side up and loop the cable around the wheel twice.  Once under the screw and once over it.




Line up the cables so they are the same length on both sides with the rudder centered, then tighten the screw and make sure the cables get held under the washer.   Don't tighten the screw down all the way yet, so you can adjust the wheel position later by allowing the cables to slide under the washer.

The next step is to install the steering arm, these are the parts needed.

Use the right size bit to tighten center screw into insert in board with the two big plastic washers underneath the arm.

Attach the steering batten like this

Put the black plastic tubes over the cable ends and then thread the ends through the tightening bolts like this.

Once tension is added, the loops tighten themselves down.

Adjust the cable length before tightening down the loops.  You want the adjustment screws to go onto the  bolts with light  tension so that the tension can be adjusted.  If there is too much play, you have to shorten the wire loops to a good length.

After the length is adjusted properly, tighten the knots and insert the excess cable ends into the black tubes.

Use needle nose pliers to hold and tension the bolts while tightening the screws  by hand, try to get about the same amount of rotations on both sides, so you have space left to tighten the cables on both sides later.   You will find more tips on fine tuning the rudder in another post linked below.

After the cables are tightened properly, you can adjust the angle of the rudder by twisting the rudder wheel.  With the rudder screw not tightened down, the cables can slide around the wheel to the right position.

Once the wheel is adjusted properly (fine tuning is done later with the hand screws), tighten it down well, so the cables are held tightly in place and the cables can't slip.

The last step is to stick the carbon sliding plate under the rudder arm.  The plate provided is quite big and can be slippery if stepped on, so for my board I  cut out a smaller strip that will do the same job as the bigger plate.

The sliding plate is placed under the tip or the steering arm in the shortest setting, then peel back the adhesive backing and stick down.

Note: If you have to cut the rudder cable, use a SHARP wire cutter to avoid fraying of the cable.

All pau, for tips on how to tune the rudder, please visit this older post: 

Fine tuning the rudder 

Aloha,

Robert Stehlik

www.blueplanetsurf.com

Fine Tuning the Rudder on a SUP

I like racing on unlimited boards with rudders.   The rudder makes these long, straight tracking boards surprisingly nimble and fun in the bumps.  I avoid using the rudder when trying to catch a bump as it creates extra drag.  Once planing on the bump though, using the rudder can help to follow the bumps or change direction without noticeably slowing the glide.  You can step back with one foot to lift the nose of the board while keeping the front foot on the rudder.  On steeper bumps you want to step further back with both feet off the rudder to reduce the wetted surface and allow higher speeds.   With both feet off the rudder, you can surf the bump off the tail by using the rails like when surfing.  When the front foot is off the rudder, it goes to "neutral",  the straight position that the rudder is supposed to return to when the pedal is released.  To minimize drag from steering, the rudder should be in "neutral" most of the time with most steering being small adjustments from the straight position.  Doing a downwinder on an unlimited board with the rudder not straight in neutral is awful, it's like trying to play nice music on a guitar that's out of tune.  I'm surprised how many people suffer through downwind runs on boards that cost thousands of dollars with their rudder systems completely out of tune, or worse, dropping out of a race because their screws got loose ;) (I won't mention any names here).
If you live on Oahu and would like to have your rudder system tuned professionally, bring it to Blue Planet Surf Shop, for everyone else here is a do it yourself guide to fine tuning your rudder system.  The pictures are of a SIC Bullet that my friend Evan Leong (standuppaddlesurf.net) is kindly letting me use in a race tomorrow.  The basic concept can be used on any board, all rudder systems allow for a way to adjust and fix the neutral position.

Guide to tuning the rudder system


The SIC ASS system (Advanced Steering System) is notorious for the adjustment screws getting loose and out of tune.  I don't like to tune the rudder on a regular basis, so I put some loctite (red) on the screws before making the adjustments for a semi-permanent fixed setting that should not get loose or need any more adjustments for at least a season or longer.  While you are at it, also put loctite on the screw in the center that holds down the pedal, I have heard of those coming loose as well.

Cable tension
The cables should be snug but not overtightened.

This picture shows about the correct amount of tension, you should be able to pull the cables together an inch or so, if you can pull more, the cable tension is too loose, which makes the steering sloppy.  Tighter cables will make the system more responsive but if they are too tight the tension can put too much strain on the system.  You want to avoid having loose parts or play in the system.

Lining up the Rudder

A friend asked me how I can tell if the rudder is really straight.  It takes a good eye to line up the curved sides of the rudder with the curved bottom of the board.  You can line up the tail or nose of the board with the rudder and see if it slants to one side or the other.  If you don't have that eagle eye, it helps to have a center line reference to line up the back tip of the rudder with.  

Because this board does not have a visible centerline, I used a floodlight and lined up the board so the shadow of the fin made a centerline on the board.

I then centered the back tip of the rudder in the shadow, playing around with the tension until I have a good amount of tension with the rudder perfectly straight in neutral.  Wiggle the rudder back and forth and make sure it keeps returning to neutral.  If it gets stuck in different settings you should check if all parts move smoothly without getting stuck and/or create more tension pulling the rudder into the neutral position.  The SIC system uses a fiberglass batten, other systems use rubber bands that may need to be tightened or replaced to pull the rudder into the neutral position.

Let the Loctite cure overnight, then get on the water  and most importantly, have FUN.

Aloha,
Robert Stehlik
www.blueplanetsurf.com