Tillerlock

egodsey · Feb 10, 2012

In the December issue of SAIL magazine (on page 52) there was a photo of Robert Burgess sailing his Com-Pac 16 in the Florida Keys. The caption reads “When the wind is right, Nomad sails herself.” What caught my eye was a length of line with a toggle that was rigged to apply light pressure against the tiller ... which evidently had a slight amount of weather helm. Presumably the toggle allows quick and easy adjustment of the helm ... without having to tie (or re-tie) any lines. Since then I have rigged one on my Hunter 25.5. It works great.

Here’s the original photo ... in which I have circled the line holding the tiller.

inarathree · Feb 10, 2012

I sail 90% of my time singlehanded. I use a length of 1/4" line that is 2-3 feet shorter than the width of my boat at the point of where you hold the tiller. To each end it tied about a foot of latex tubing, and to the end of that a carabiner. The carabiners are attached to the toe rail about at foot behind the end of the tiller, the line part is wrapped around the tiller once or twice (or more) depending on how much resistance I need out of the tubing. When close reaching and the sails are balanced, this works great with very little input by me. And works fairly well for other points of sail. It also works great for motoring and putting up and down the sails.

Bill Roosa · Feb 10, 2012

Balancing the sail plan is key to being able to get her to steer herself. course that is not always possable going down wind with the boom out to one side. But asiling DDW is not the fastest way to get there anyway so why stress yourself.

MrBill_FLL · Feb 10, 2012

the surgical tubing is the method I hear works best.

I have a 'tiller tamer' and that holds the tiller, but doesn't make adjustments.

ps: my tiller pilots has been the best money I spent on my boat...

Ed Schenck · Feb 10, 2012

I always have my Tiller Tamer attached. Most of the time I am sailing my Highlander hands-off. Unless the breeze is up of course. With a twist of the knob I can go from hands-off to full control. I used to use the rope around the tiller but it took off the varnish and friction would loosen as you moved off center. I put my Davis Tiller Tamer on the bottom of the tiller instead of the top.
http://www.newportnautical.com/Davis-Tiller-Tamer-sailboat-tiller-control-p/dav-2205.htm

DJN51 · Feb 10, 2012

I use a tiller lock from Cansail.com.I had a tiller tamer and it wore out replaced it with Cansails product.I have no interest in this co.Practical Sailor endorsed it back in 92.Bought mine on Ebay.

cb32863 · Feb 10, 2012

When I sailed a Pearson 26 last year, there was a bungy, with a loop in the middle, that ran from each side to keep the tiller in place when it was in the slip. I slipped one end on a cleat and then the loop over the tiller and it held it nicely for me when I raised the main.

HukilauMike · Feb 10, 2012

Another vote for the Davis Tiller Tamer. Like Ed, I put mine on the bottom of my tiller. With the sails balanced, I can go forever without touching the tiller. I also use it to hold course while I go forward to raise the main or lower the main. It is less effective for this; wind and waves acting on the bow will push the boat around without an active hand on the tiller. But I don't think any of the gadgets described thus far will do a better job than the Tiller Tamer in these situtations.

Kermit · Feb 10, 2012

I have a Tiller Tamer with some broken plastic. The PO added it to the bottom of the tiller. So far all it has done is scratch up my leg. So I took it off. Still have it, just don't use it.

Doug L · Feb 10, 2012

I have used a tiller tamer on a Hunter 26, and it worked pretty well. I have had other boats, including Mac 25 and Venture 222, that required regular input on the tiller to hold a line, and tying off the tiller was not very useful. How well does your boat hold a course?

Dan Hill · Feb 10, 2012

I've used the tiller tamer on our mac/venture 22 and our hunter 240. Worked perfectly on both.

kenn · Feb 10, 2012

I put a Tiller-Tamer on our boat about 2 years ago, when my wife's schedule forced me to do more solo-sailing. On the whole, I like it... it holds the tiller for long enough when i need to jump forward to do sail trim, retrieve fenders, etc. Sometimes I just set it for friction, and if I'm jumping about I just have to hit the tiller every half-minute or so to correct my course.

It squeaks with the crappy old line I'm using with it, so I may put new, softer line on it this season.

JerryA · Feb 11, 2012

Tiller tamer too

I use the Tiller Tamer too. Works well enough that I can eat lunch or go up and sit on the bow dangling my feet in the waves. Doesn't work well in heavy weather (a larger friction area would help that) and I've had it come loose when anchored at night. I now tie my tiller off when anchoring overnight. I also use it to go forward and setup my sym spinnaker and pole, as well as when I gybe the thing. Adjusting it to have some friction allows the boat to turn through smoothly. I've replaced the line on my tamer twice in 5 years of use.

JerryA

philwsailz · Feb 11, 2012

A few years ago I found myself laminating up a new tiller from scratch. While building it I was considering this subject.

My solution was to mill a /4" slot in the bottom of the tiller about 2/3 the thickness and within about 8 inches of the hand-end. I then cross-drilled the slot for a length of line to pass through. the location of the cross-drilled hole is critical, with a little over 1/4" of slot depth remaining over the drilled hole.

A 1/4" stainless eyebolt was fitted into the slot and a line passed through the drilled hole and eyebolt. This is where cross drilled hole location is critical. You want the eyebolt to go up in the slot enough to let the line slide easily when the eyebolt is "bottomed" in the milled slot. A

A large plastic knurled knob with 1/4" female threads was then screwed onto the eyebolt.

When the knob was tightened it pulled the eyebolt down, creating a clutch-like "jam" on the line. You could either lock the tiller tight or allow minor adjustment with the knob...

I really liked the design as it was robust, simple, and basically totally contained. No tacky bolt-on parts to mar the beauty of my homemade tiller either...

philwsailz · Feb 11, 2012

Good question, and good point. Location will be more a preference thing but the closer to the hand end, the lower the load. Mine was 8" off in part because this was a VERY short tiller on a boat I set up with almost no weather helm. My 8" off on that tiny tiller was probably about where you would think to put it on a much longer tiller...

HukilauMike · Feb 11, 2012

Squidd said:
Gotcha...I was just picturing mine (longer) and it's quite a bit thinner near the hand end...

Further back there is more "meat" to play with...

The conventional wisdom is to position the "anchor" point on the tiller so that the control lines form a 45 degree angle from the tiller to wherever you dead end them. My Tiller Tamer is about two thirds of the way forward on my tiller, and the lines run at that 45 degree angle back to the top edge of the transom, where I have affixed a couple of cam cleats.

Tillerlock

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