1984 Hunter 27 - Emergency Tiller System

H

Hunter Enthusiast

.
Jun 11, 2023
29
Hunter 27 Deer Island
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
 

Attachments

shemandr

shemandr

.
Jan 1, 2006
7,536
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
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.
 
dLj

dLj

.
Mar 23, 2017
4,391
Belliure 41 Back in the Chesapeake
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

heritage

.
Apr 22, 2011
938
Hunter 27 Pecan Grove, Oriental, NC
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.
 
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H

Hunter Enthusiast

.
Jun 11, 2023
29
Hunter 27 Deer Island
heritage said:
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.
Click to expand
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!
 
H

Hunter Enthusiast

.
Jun 11, 2023
29
Hunter 27 Deer Island
dLj said:
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
Click to expand
Thank you for you observations; I think I may be on my way to getting this done!

Safe travels!!
 
H

Hunter Enthusiast

.
Jun 11, 2023
29
Hunter 27 Deer Island
shemandr said:
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.
Click to expand
I appreciate your in-sight and opinion; thank you!

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

Safe travels!
 
kloudie1

kloudie1

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Nov 6, 2006
10,085
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Yup.. a piece of pipe or thick wall tubing that fits into the stock about 3-4 inches past the cross pin in the rudder post.. a slot cut into the pipe to engage the pin the pipe should stick up above the rudder post 4-6 inches .. weld a kinda horizontal handle to the top of the pipe; make the handle long enough to just clear the wheel to get the max leverage.. lots of folks drill a hole in the end of the handle so that a line can be tied there to lock the rudder in place or operated using the combing winches..
 
H

Hunter Enthusiast

.
Jun 11, 2023
29
Hunter 27 Deer Island
kloudie1 said:
Yup.. a piece of pipe or thick wall tubing that fits into the stock about 3-4 inches past the cross pin in the rudder post.. a slot cut into the pipe to engage the pin the pipe should stick up above the rudder post 4-6 inches .. weld a kinda horizontal handle to the top of the pipe; make the handle long enough to just clear the wheel to get the max leverage.. lots of folks drill a hole in the end of the handle so that a line can be tied there to lock the rudder in place or operated using the combing winches..
Click to expand
Thank you so much; this is very helplful!!
 
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Tally Ho

Tally Ho

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Jan 7, 2011
5,546
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
Different boat (O’Day 322 ), but similar rudder post setup….i don’t have a photo of the end in the rudder tube, but essentially it is a notch in the tube that slides down over the the bar in the rudder tube.

IMG_3318.jpeg

length and angle for clearance on your boat will be important as well as the depth of the part that goes down into the rudder tube and where the crossbar is located….you can probably measure and mock something up to test it out before committing to having one fabricated.

I took this phot while testing the emergency tiller, making sure I knew where I stored it and how to use it. Good to practice once in a while!

Greg
 
B

Blitz

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Jul 10, 2007
706
Seidelmann 34 Atlantic Highlands, NJ
I have a similar issue as the original poster. Question: how does it lock in or is it just a gravity thing, or is it bolted in?
 
JamesG161

JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
7,757
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
When is use...
Gravity plus Muscle power.

Jim...
 
heritage

heritage

.
Apr 22, 2011
938
Hunter 27 Pecan Grove, Oriental, NC
This is what happens to an H27 emergency tiller after being in the bottom of the aft locker for six years! Looks like I will also be having one made, maybe in stainless. The old one was designed to fit inside the pipe that carries the rudder shaft. It could also be designed to fit over the pipe and capture the outside ends of the bolt that supports the rudder shaft. The tiller extension is about 12 inches and made of 1 inch square stock. The notches need to be large enough to capture the bolt that supports the top of the rudder. Definitely would need some power assist to operate it in anything but calm waters.
 
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