I have a Smart Track rudder on my 2013 Cuda 12. I have a problem now where the rudder won't stay down in the water. Whenever I move forward, it lifts back up. The cord does slip in the catch, but I don't know if that's the problem or a symptom. Anyone have experience with that?

My smarttrack has a knob on the rudder to adjust the down spring tension. Maybe yours is loose.

What Todd said.
The cord holds it up, the spring holds it down.

Is this the knob? Sure doesn't want to budge.

OK, I found some stuff online that says you have to pull the pin out push the peg in some to get it to move. I'll play with it.

That's it. Been a while since I played with it but don't remember having to do anything trick with it but just turn it. If you don't get it figured out by the time I get home today I'll look at mine. I also have the paper work that came with it at home.

So I tightened the spring, and it still won't stay down. I think the problem is the cord has gotten thinner as it's been stretched under tension, and probably some through friction as well. It's just not staying put in the cleat.

Yours must be a different set up than mine, the only thing that holds mine down is the spring.
Do you have a better pict of your rudder?

You may need to replace the cleat; they tend to open up with time and heavy use, and this keeps them from holding the spring loaded rudder down in the water. But replacing the cleat involves drilling out the original rivets, which is not for the feint of heart (or unsteady hand). The folks at Mountain Sports can assist you if you're willing to drive to Arlington. They can also assist in replacing the worn cord. With a new cleat and cord, the rudder should work like new.

I would call Mountain Sports and ask for either of the Josh's to ask their opinions. Good luck...Bert

On my Cuda, and I assume all other rudders are the same set up, the rudder is held up in the stowed position by the spring. The cord is pulled and held into place by the cleat. Replace your cleat.

Thats a Jackson version of the smart track. Its spring loaded to retract and has to use a cleat to stay down. Thats basswakwards from the way smart track does it in their stand alone pkg. I have both systems, the Jackson implementation on my Cuda12 and the separate smart track kit I installed on my Ultimate FX. The separate kit is spring loaded down uncleated. It works way better this way.

On my cuda I had to replace the cleat like bert said. Be sure to get the right size.