PassWind wrote:
Quote:
lengthened the tiller by drilling down the center and inserting a length of carbon fiber rod.
I can turn the rudder lock to lock with ninety degrees of tiller movement instead of 180 degrees. This will allow for some stretching of the rudder line and still maintain control.
I am not understanding how lengthening the tiller arm changed the amount of degrees the handle has to sweep from lock to lock - please explain
... I can understand how lengthening it increases the resolution, so to speak, and allows for finer control on a degree basis and think this is a nice advantage to keep the craft from wandering too far off a point of sail
The throw of the tiller is very short, about 2.5~3 inches. That means that the tiller arm can only pull 3 inches of line in one direction. My tiller arm can pull 6 inches. The rudder head allows about 3 inches of pull per direction, which is fine when sailing around in perfect conditions. However, when conditions are tough, the rudder line stretches, the boat gives a little, rudder gives a little, and when you look back at the rudder, it is straight even though you have the tiller hard over. Yes, I increase the resolution, but I also increase the amount of tolerance before I am hard over.
j
(yes, the rudder is locked down; push your boat and you will see)
(yes, i could furl, but i like going fast)