OK so am I wrong for doing this????

Is that for protection from lightning strikes? I use an aluminum extension, not worried about thew class rules, just not getting my b@!!%'s fried.

No - it's for when you sail into a power line. Having an conductive tiller ensures you're part of the path to ground.

Fiberglass tillers are much more forgiving when dropped at speed. I can't tell you how many aluminum tillers I bent/broke before this rule was intoduced about 30 years ago. Fiberglass tillers will flex a lot before they break.

Help me out. Pretty big jump from mast to tiller, where's the path? Mast to front crossbar to... fiberglass, tramp. How does it get back to the tiller?

Most people don't hold the tiller up in the air. They rest it on the trampoline frame (usually touching the sidebar).

Even if you were just sitting on the sidebar, holding the tiller, the path goes from the mast, to the tramp frame, through you, to the tiller and eventually to the rudder castings that are in contact with the water.

I forgot about the tramp sidebars. I'm almost always up on the wing but I would guess my feet are not far from the sidebar.

Fiberglass will and does conduct electricity!!! We had a great time with a load of static a few weekends ago when 3 boats with masts in the air started to shock the crap out of us. I would venture to guess that no matter what precautions one took, if you sail into a power line or get struck by lightning, you are going to get hurt!!