buy or make a shorter tiller

[Dave Zeryck]

Well, the wife

 

[MJ]

Tiller

I wouldn't mess with the tiller. When you are tacking or jibing you can lift up the tiller and pass it over your head. As you get used to the boat with practice you and your crew will adjust. The C27 is actually not that bad. Take a look at the tiller of a Pearson 26 some time. That cockpit is a nightmare! Good luck.

 

[LaDonna Bubak - Catalina Owners]

Give it some time

Hi Dave,The tiller can get annoying but you might give it a little time

 

[Rob]

Leverage

Hi Dave,Hope you are enjoying the new boat - obviously you are getting out enough to find room for improvement.Like you, I wanted to shorten the tiller - until I got into my first storm. You can shave 6 inches off the tiller and it will still work, but I found that in heavy winds, the extra leverage on the tip of the tiller makes steering more comfortable.I am a relatively big guy, so wrestling the tiller is not a problem. I just like the comfort of easy steering in high winds. In normal wind conditions, I just keep the tiller in a semi-raised position, which gives people more room. When tacking, I raise it while coming through the wind, then bring it back down. When I have experienced sailors aboard, I sometimes steer from the low side.Best of Luck, and let us know how you make out!Rob

 

[Dave Z.]

OK, we'll try shaving 6" off a spare..

Thanks for the advice, all. I'm picking up a spare tiller at West Marine, and will shorten

 

[LaDonna Bubak - CatalinaOwners]

Shave it off the old one

Sheesh, if you're gonna ruin a tiller, ruin the old one! ;-)Tell Tania HI

 

[Tim]

weatherhelm

If you change to a balanced rudder, ie Booth, you can shorten it all you want and still be able to control it when it starts to blow. The archives should have lots of stuff on the Booth rudder conversion. I had our boat surfing down some largeish swells showing 9knots on the meter, 20 knots wind, one hand on the tiller and everyone on the boat ( wife and 3 kids) enjoying the ride. I doubt this would have worked out as well with the catalina swept back rudder.

 

[Don]

Another Suggestion

You might go to your local building supply store and buy a replacement handle for yard tools. I made a great tiller out of an axe handle for a couple of bucks. If you find you don't like it, then not much invested. I do agree that in a blow, you will probably need the extra leverage gained by a longer tiller.