Stiff tiller/windvane steering

[panoftas]

Hello

I am having a lot of trouble getting my boat to track well under my capehorn windvane self steering system. I have tried to better balance the boat as I understand this important but it seems not matter what I do it seems to not correct until it has gone maybe 30-40 degrees off course. The boat has a very stiff tiller and despite what the previous owner told me I can't help but suspect this is contributing. Your thoughts are appreciated.

Cheers

[billknny]

Originally Posted by panoftas

Hello

I am having a lot of trouble getting my boat to track well under my capehorn windvane self steering system. I have tried to better balance the boat as I understand this important but it seems not matter what I do it seems to not correct until it has gone maybe 30-40 degrees off course. The boat has a very stiff tiller and despite what the previous owner told me I can't help but suspect this is contributing. Your thoughts are appreciated.

Cheers

A stiff tiller is not contributing to the problem, it IS the problem.

When you are stationary at the dock, if you can not move your tiller from stop to stop with the light touch of one finger, something is wrong. You have to fix it.

The PO is BSing you if he is saying that the windvane worked fine with a stiff tiller.

In any wind steering system friction is the enemy. They just don't work if the system is not free and easy to move.

[Orion Jim]

Originally Posted by billknny

A stiff tiller is not contributing to the problem, it IS the problem.

When you are stationary at the dock, if you can not move your tiller from stop to stop with the light touch of one finger, something is wrong. You have to fix it.

The PO is BSing you if he is saying that the windvane worked fine with a stiff tiller.

In any wind steering system friction is the enemy. They just don't work if the system is not free and easy to move.

Well stated, accurate response.

[roverhi]

What billknny said. Could not get the Monitor Vane to work below 4k boat speed on my Pearson 35 because of stiff wheel and possibly the vane steering cable routing. You have to have enough water flow over the pendulum rudder to generate the force to turn the wheel or tiller. It the wheel or tiller is too stiff the vane won't work. Interesting that even though force to turn wheel increased greatly as speed increased 4k, the servo rudder on the Monitor provided plenty of power to steer the boat at higher speed through the water,

Got a deal on a WindPilot Pacific Plus auxiliary rudder vane so didn't explore further the cause of the stiff rudder. The boat's rudder became just a trim tab for steering with the auxiliary rudder vane system.

Found the cause of the stiff steering when I converted the boat to tiller years later. One of the idler wheels on the cable steering had seized and the cable was slowly sawing it's way through the sheave.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by roverhi

...
Found the cause of the stiff steering when I converted the boat to tiller years later. One of the idler wheels on the cable steering had seized and the cable was slowly sawing it's way through the sheave.

Thanks for adding to my list of existential boat dreads. That one gave me a cold shiver.