1984 Hunter 27 - Emergency Tiller System

[Hunter Enthusiast]

Greetings all,

I recently purchased a 1984 Hunter 27 and am diligently preparing it for sea.

One issue I've ran into is that there is no Emergency Tiller on-board. My research suggests it might not be a difficult job to make/fabricate an Emergency Tiller for my particular sail-boat.

This said, it would be nice to know what the original Emergency Tiller looked like.

If anyone has pictures of the OEM Emergency Tiller, suggestions, comments, etc., I'd certainly appreciate it.

Additionally, I've attached pictures of what my particular Emergency Tiller interface looks like.

Respectfully,

Mark Lord

 

[shemandr]

You may do better by fabricating your own emergency tiller. Boat builders tend to cheap out on temporary tillers. If you are really going off shore you should realize that a lot of failed passages fail because of loss of steering. I would submit that steering is a bigger risk to off shore yachts than standing rigging. For ocean sailing I would always go for the best steering hardware possible. And redundancy.

 

[kappykaplan]

You may do better by fabricating your own emergency tiller.

 

[dLj]

Are the pictures showing the top of the rudder post? Or is that a coupling that attaches somehow to the rudder?

If I were going to make an emergency tiller, I'd make sure I understood that entire connection.

It also looks like you may have a clearance issue with the current wheel. I have seen short emergency tillers that run using block and tackle to run short tillers as it looks like you might need. Those require attachment points on the sides to connect the tiller and have enough power to run them.

Just some quick and dirty observations.

dj

 

[heritage]

It is a bent steel rod with a notched cylinder welded to one end. The notch fits over the bolt (shown in your pics) that secures the top of the rudder post. Reminds me of a tool that turns on the city water valve. It turns the rudder like a tiller would, but it is short and takes some effort when heeled over. I can post a picture of mine when I am at the boat in a few days.

 

[Hunter Enthusiast]

It is a bent steel rod with a notched cylinder welded to one end. The notch fits over the bolt (shown in your pics) that secures the top of the rudder post. Reminds me of a tool that turns on the city water valve. It turns the rudder like a tiller would, but it is short and takes some effort when heeled over. I can post a picture of mine when I am at the boat in a few days.

Thank you kindly for your in-put on this!

At your convenience, if you could forward pictures of your emergency/temporary tiller, I'd certainly appreciate it; it'll likely go a long ways in assisting me to fashion my own!

 

[Hunter Enthusiast]

Are the pictures showing the top of the rudder post? Or is that a coupling that attaches somehow to the rudder?

If I were going to make an emergency tiller, I'd make sure I understood that entire connection.

It also looks like you may have a clearance issue with the current wheel. I have seen short emergency tillers that run using block and tackle to run short tillers as it looks like you might need. Those require attachment points on the sides to connect the tiller and have enough power to run them.

Just some quick and dirty observations.

dj

Thank you for you observations; I think I may be on my way to getting this done!

Safe travels!!

 

[Hunter Enthusiast]

I completely agree (and am in the process of doing just that)!

Thank you; safe travels!

 

[Hunter Enthusiast]

You may do better by fabricating your own emergency tiller. Boat builders tend to cheap out on temporary tillers. If you are really going off shore you should realize that a lot of failed passages fail because of loss of steering. I would submit that steering is a bigger risk to off shore yachts than standing rigging. For ocean sailing I would always go for the best steering hardware possible. And redundancy.

I appreciate your in-sight and opinion; thank you!

Your concerns related to failed steering mirror my own completely!!

Safe travels!