Pivoting Wooden Tiller, Rudder Head Mod for H15/H146
Having a lot of non sailing time on my hands after ripping the inside of my knee and then fracturing a bone in the same leg, I turned my mind toward messing about with my boat. Enthused by the great mod that Rusty S of the H170 owners did to his tiller (see H170 Owners Modifications), I put my mind to my own version.
The attached photos tell the story. The SBO Store supplied me with a tiller for a Hunter 23.5. This most closely matched the length and shape of the original steel H15 tiller. Cheek blocks, rudder head replacement are aluminium.
A solid aluminium bar replaced the original spacer that was at the top of the rudder assembly (this spacer used to hold the butt end of the original tiller). A 2” aluminium strap was screwed to the top of the bar. Cheek plates that were mounted on either side of the wooden tiller’s 2 inch sq butt end extended down either side of the strap to provide lateral support against the strap and also extended a bit further at the rear to provide for a pivot pin to go through the cheek plates and solid bar. A custom pivot pin for the tiller was turned out of stainless steel. I also glued a strap of Teflon to the underside of the tiller where the wood meets the metal strap to protect the varnish.
On the front of the solid bar I added a quick release clamcleat (CL257 to hold rudder down but release it quickly if an obstruction is hit) as well as keeping the original CL 218Mk2 (to hold the rudder up). The rudder control lines were fed through deck eyes that were mounted in spare holes in the original rudder cheeks and then through some small cheek blocks mounted on the solid bar to provide a little mechanical purchase.
I upgraded the existing tiller extension with a Spinlock EA 1200 (750 -1200mm) Asymmetric Handle Tiller Extension.
Now, if I can only find a nice flag pole for the holder I added.
This was the original:
Having a lot of non sailing time on my hands after ripping the inside of my knee and then fracturing a bone in the same leg, I turned my mind toward messing about with my boat. Enthused by the great mod that Rusty S of the H170 owners did to his tiller (see H170 Owners Modifications), I put my mind to my own version.
The attached photos tell the story. The SBO Store supplied me with a tiller for a Hunter 23.5. This most closely matched the length and shape of the original steel H15 tiller. Cheek blocks, rudder head replacement are aluminium.
A solid aluminium bar replaced the original spacer that was at the top of the rudder assembly (this spacer used to hold the butt end of the original tiller). A 2” aluminium strap was screwed to the top of the bar. Cheek plates that were mounted on either side of the wooden tiller’s 2 inch sq butt end extended down either side of the strap to provide lateral support against the strap and also extended a bit further at the rear to provide for a pivot pin to go through the cheek plates and solid bar. A custom pivot pin for the tiller was turned out of stainless steel. I also glued a strap of Teflon to the underside of the tiller where the wood meets the metal strap to protect the varnish.
On the front of the solid bar I added a quick release clamcleat (CL257 to hold rudder down but release it quickly if an obstruction is hit) as well as keeping the original CL 218Mk2 (to hold the rudder up). The rudder control lines were fed through deck eyes that were mounted in spare holes in the original rudder cheeks and then through some small cheek blocks mounted on the solid bar to provide a little mechanical purchase.
I upgraded the existing tiller extension with a Spinlock EA 1200 (750 -1200mm) Asymmetric Handle Tiller Extension.
Now, if I can only find a nice flag pole for the holder I added.
This was the original:
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