Thanks for your input. Yes, I totally agree about the end-grain eyelets; I just put them in that way when I first had the idea and wanted to test the geometry, to get a sense of what lengths for the two rocker bars and the front tiller would give a reasonable range of rudder motion, without worrying about the load or stress on the connections. Probably I'll at least move those eyelets around to the top of the crossbars so they go in crossgrain before my first trial run, in low wind on flat shallow water. I only need this prototype rig to hold together for one or two trials that way, while I find out whether or how well I can steer and sail the boat this way at all, For example, to find out whether my legs get tangled with the tiller when I move around, whether stuff catches in the steering ropes so maybe I need to run them through conduit or tubing, whether my current tiller extension is a good length, etc.Nice idea, I would not trust those little eyes in the end grain of the wood. They will pull out. I think you need some thing going from the top. Maybe a U bolt from the top clamping the line down tight.
Also I think you are not going to get enough movement on the rudder. I know I have put the rudder to a lock to turn at the last minute to get the dock right. Plus getting out of irons. I think you need to have a second set of blocks behind the seat close to center line to get more distance in rudder travel.
I will say this is just off the top of my head. I could be wrong about everything.
An issue with just clamping the line is that I also want eventually to be able to clip and unclip the steering lines from the rudder when I dismount it, while keeping the lines at their intended optimal length, i.e. without untying anything. For now I've just shifted over to loops of heavy insulated solid-core copper wire, that I happen to have a big spool of.I would suggest that you just take 2 strips of wood and screw them down on top the bar you have there. My opinion is the eyelets you are using are just not going to hold up at all. I think you are better off with a couple of machine screws holding a bar down that clamps the line. The bar can be some plastic, some metal or wood.
The forces that close to the rudder are going to be substantial. I know when I am going into the wind I have some force on the 3 foot tiller so at 8" away you will have MUCH more force. Basic lever stuff.
Anyway stuff to consider, I could be wrong.
I don't get this. Is this tiller in front of you, like I am trying to do, or behind you, like a conventional rudder? Or is the U-shaped tiller a really big U, that has long arms that extend around your whole body? If so, is the bottom of the U in front of you or behind you?On my Grumman Sailing canoe, I found the ropes clumsy, so I custom-made a steering arrangement out of 1x2 inch wood boards.
The tiller extension had a pair of thimble-shaped pegs (o) which locked / unlocked into a u-shaped tiller with "o" being the hinge Though long gone, the hinged arrangement worked great, so I made no modifications in the years I owned it.
With no photographs available after 60 years (!) this sketch will have to do.
----------o---o (extension, long)
>>---"o"---] (tiller, short)
The "thimbles" were two wooden dowels glued to the extension with two aluminum washers screwed underneath. The rear-most dowel was locked to the tiller, and acted like a hinge.
Why?Better to put the windvane on the gaff, not the mast
The rudder kit came with no instructions, so I contrived the t-shaped, 2-part, "pivoting tiller".I don't get this. Is this tiller in front of you, like I am trying to do, or behind you, like a conventional rudder? Or is the U-shaped tiller a really big U, that has long arms that extend around your whole body? But I don't know how you were supposed to control or move those ropes.
OK thanks. So if I follow this, that essentially was a way of turning your Grumman rope steering back into something like the standard steering system for a Sunfish or Sailfish, i.e. a sternpost rudder with a two-part forward-extending tiller that the helmsman controls by reaching aft to hold the tiller extension. But that's where my problem started, because with the wide bench seat I put on my Sailfish, it's awkward to reach aft over the seat-back to control that standard tiller. Then Alan Glos suggested rope steering, so the controls can be in front of the seat rather than behind.The rudder kit came with no instructions, so I contrived the t-shaped, 2-part, "pivoting tiller".
As I recall, the helmsman sat far to the rear of the canoe, and the
tiller extension ☜ was of a conventional length--just shy of the helmsman. The 1"x2" tiller itself ☜ was relatively short.
⊃===o===[] full length of tiller 16". The "[]" part is the 1"x2" cross-mount attached across the rudder, which connects the two provided holes in the aluminum top piece. The wood tiller is glued and screwed to the wood cross-mount.
The overlap is about 7-inches. The 1"x2" tiller extension ☜ was quite long. (~30"?)
The 1"x2" rudder attachment mount (where the ropes would normally go) could be centered, but it could also be constructed asymmetrically / off-center to clear your seats.
Pull forward on the extension, make your tack with the rudder at an aggressive angle, re-center and push the tiller extension back into the 3" deep ⊃, which re-engages the forward dowel (of the two ½" dowels). The rearmost ½" dowel is just a solid pivot point.
Alternatively for the tiller, you could use [something like] a stiff garden hose section. Bend it severely to tack, allow it to return to straight after the tack.
Glad you were able to understand the geometry from my message!OK thanks. But that's where my problem started, because with the wide bench seat I put on my Sailfish, it's awkward to reach aft over the seat-back to control that standard tiller. Then Alan Glos suggested rope steering, so the controls can be in front of the seat rather than behind.
Sailfish with bench seat
Looks like this. All three cross-braces are held in place by gunwhale clamps from Sailboats-to-go. The wooden foot-brace has a cam-cleat for the halyard, and a GPS speedometer on a post. I want to sit facing forward since I like to kayak-paddle as well as sail, but I also want to be able to...sailingforums.com
So I started from that idea. But I couldn't see how to control the steering ropes just by pulling directly on them, while still being able to slide along the seat to hike out. That led me to this modified rope-steering system, with a second rocker-bar in front of the seat to pull on the steering ropes, and a backward-facing tiller to turn that rocker-bar, and a tiller extension attached to that. This prototype shows that the geometry works, but I still need to try it on the water, with more resisting force on the rudder.