LTD's aluminium ribs don't reach the ends of the hull

[vsj]

Hello

I've suffered from my Limited Edition Expedition occasionally pulling hard to the right in high speeds.

I figured it must be due to the tube not being properly aligned, because returning to shore to re-align the floor a couple of times and re-inflate both the floor and the main tube didn't help. It doesn't occur every time. Some days the boat goes straight just perfectly. I guess it could be that the tube somehow moves when I handle the deflated boat. Although the floor still somehow feels like the more probable cause.

Anyway,

I don't think this is the cause of my occasional steering problem but while realigning the tube today I noticed that the aluminium ribs never reached the ends of the outer hull when the tube was inflated. In my AF1 they always fit together tightly and make the bow and stern firm. Whereas the LTD always had an inch or so of air between the outer hull and the metal.

It was suggested in some other thread here that pushing the tube with your legs from inside the boat would do the trick but in my case it didn't.

I stuffed some cloth into sleeves that hold the ribs in place, so that the ribs now reach the hull. There's a noticeable improvement to how the boat looks and feels and I'm pretty happy with the outcome. But I have yet to test whether it makes any noticeable difference on water and I'll get back to this if there's something worth mentioning.

I wonder. Could the sleeves have been sewed too far back in my tube frame or might it actually be supposed to be like that?