I put a double-wide bench seat on my 1962 Super Sailfish Mk2 so I can hike out a bit by sliding over, while still having back support and a footrest. But this made it more difficult to hold the tiller behind the seat. Alan Glos suggested trying rope steering, as in many sailing canoes like the Grumman. This is my first attempt to implement this idea, to test the design and operation. I haven't tried to sail it yet, but will soon, on a small flat lake where I test new rigs. If this design handles well, I will beef it up and make it more permanent.
Alan suggested blocks, but for this initial mock-up I just used some small eyebolts that I had on hand, which are lighter and easier to install in my wooden frame. The rope seems to run through them well enough, at least when the rudder is just waving in the air. Right now the rope tension is adjusted just by double half-hitches. One big question will be how much and how quickly the rope stretches or the knots loosen, under the greater stress of holding the rudder against moving water.
I am very pleased with the "reverse tiller" design, and I hope it works so I can use it permanently. The front rocker bar mirrors the rear rocker bar on top of the rudder, as joined by the two ropes, and the tilting front tiller rotates the front rocker bar. Due to the mirror reversal, the handle of the back-facing forward tiller moves in the same direction as you want the boat to move, rather than opposite as with a conventional front-facing stern tiller. As usual, the tiller extension is supposed to be long enough to let you hike out one way while pushing the tiller the other way. The old-style rudder still kicks up, because the rear rocker bar is sitting on a short square post that rolls over the top of the rudder, just like the original tiller arm. This places the rocker bar directly over the vertical hinge of the rudder.
I shot a short video showing the operation of this prototype, but I can't seem to upload it on this site, due to its video format having a .MOV extension, so I uploaded it to YouTube and put a link to that here.
Alan suggested blocks, but for this initial mock-up I just used some small eyebolts that I had on hand, which are lighter and easier to install in my wooden frame. The rope seems to run through them well enough, at least when the rudder is just waving in the air. Right now the rope tension is adjusted just by double half-hitches. One big question will be how much and how quickly the rope stretches or the knots loosen, under the greater stress of holding the rudder against moving water.
I am very pleased with the "reverse tiller" design, and I hope it works so I can use it permanently. The front rocker bar mirrors the rear rocker bar on top of the rudder, as joined by the two ropes, and the tilting front tiller rotates the front rocker bar. Due to the mirror reversal, the handle of the back-facing forward tiller moves in the same direction as you want the boat to move, rather than opposite as with a conventional front-facing stern tiller. As usual, the tiller extension is supposed to be long enough to let you hike out one way while pushing the tiller the other way. The old-style rudder still kicks up, because the rear rocker bar is sitting on a short square post that rolls over the top of the rudder, just like the original tiller arm. This places the rocker bar directly over the vertical hinge of the rudder.
I shot a short video showing the operation of this prototype, but I can't seem to upload it on this site, due to its video format having a .MOV extension, so I uploaded it to YouTube and put a link to that here.
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