sheet to tiller self steering (CHEAP AND EASY)

[nordic]

LAST SATURDAY WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY TESTED THIS HOMEMADE WIND PILOT.
EXPLAINED IN THE VIDEO MUCH BETTER, FOR ANYONE WHO NEED TO BUILD ONE.


Enjoy it

FAIR WINDS

[nordic]

Originally Posted by nordic

LAST SATURDAY WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY TESTED THIS HOMEMADE WIND PILOT.
EXPLAINED IN THE VIDEO MUCH BETTER, FOR ANYONE WHO NEED TO BUILD ONE.


Enjoy it

FAIR WINDS

SORRY I FORGOT THE LINK piloto de viento usando la vela mayor / sheet to tiller self steering on Vimeo

[Cormorant]

Link to video didn't post. . . .

[nordic]

easy to use, makes no noise, cheap

[SaltyMonkey]

Continually having to tweak it, as they do in the video, doesn't count.

[thomm225]

This is what my boat had on it when I bought it. It works great.

Navico Tillerpilot TP1800 for Sailing Yachts | eBay

[gjordan]

I have never done sheet to tiller, but I have trimmed my boats up to sail without touching the helm, but it only works for a givin condition of wind, waves and boat speed. I think sheet to tiller is a good thing to play with for potential emergency use, but needs to be adjusted for every change of wind speed or wave condition. A good windvane will steer a course through a wide change of wind speed and usually through changes in sea state. I would not want to cruise depending on sheet to tiller. Just another opinion. ______Grant.

[Jim Cate]

G'Day All,

When I was a lot younger and a lot more naive, Ann and I set out from SF bouond for Hawaii. We were in my Yankee 30, and had a "trustworthy" Autohelm 2000 tiller pilot as our sole means of self-steering. Steered brilliantly all the way to Oahu, then to Kauaii, and then about 200 miles of the return voyage. And there it died. Dead. RATS!

Being a Devotee of John Letcher, I cobbled up a mainsheet tackle to the end of the boom (too much friction in the midboom system), and a "fools tackle" (1:2 reverse ratio) and some rubber tubing to the tiller. After some experimentation, we got it to steer fairly well. Needed tweaking every ten or fifteen minutes, but that is one hell of a lot better than tiller enslavement IMO. Got us all the remaining 2300 or so miles back to SF.

So, no, it isn't as good as either a wind vane or an autopilot, but we had all the necessary stuff on board to set it up, and were damn glad of having it working as well as it did.

Not a bad skill set to fiddle with on a boring day at sea!

Cheers,

Jim

[Panope]

Not sure if it was the low Center of Effort of her schooner rig, hull shape, lonnnnng full keel or a combination of all three but Panope and her sistership steered themselves effortlessly for days and days in the N. Pacific.

Staysail sheet to (temporary) tiller and surgical tubing. No autopilot. No windvane. Fool proof.

Unfortunately, the modifications I have made to Panope's steering system will not allow a tiller to be rigged. I would have enjoyed experimenting with her new sloop rig to see if the outstanding sheet to tiller steering of the past could be duplicated.

No real NEED for self steering (while under sail) anymore as I have no plans for passage making.

Steve

P.S. I am supprized that none of the full keel advocates (of a recent CF debate) mentioned sheet to tiller steering as a reason to champion their preferred keel type. I guess the mighty windvane has put this great tool away even for sailors with boats that are capable of using it.

[nordic]

our last sheet to tiller test video

https://vimeo.com/91123190

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by Panope

Staysail sheet to (temporary) tiller and surgical tubing. No autopilot. No windvane. Fool proof.

This is the standard technique I used (somewhat successfully) which is different from mainsheet.

Ketches self steer well without gizmos, so some owners rave.

[SkiprJohn]

Thanks for the videos. Tinkering with sheet to tiller has always been fun. Each time the wind increases or decreases requires a bit more adjustment.