Tiller Constanly Hitting Traveller Cleat

P

pacity

New Member
As above, my carbon tiller keeps hitting the traveller clamcleat even without any tension on my traveller. I believe my carbon tiller is of the Windesign brand (looks like the black diamond tiller). Any suggestions as to what i could do (other than buying a new tiller) cos when sailing upwind, it becomes really irritating constanly having to lift the tiller to point etc..

P.s I think it might be the way the rudder is made such that the angle at which the tiller is stuffed in is lower. Cos when i used it with my friend's aussie rudder, it did not hit the cleat at all :confused:
 
If the tiller itself isn't flapping from being too flexible, you'll have to reshape the end that slides into the rudder head. Had to do it on mine. Use some epoxy filler (silica type - real hard when dry) with black pigment so it all looks nice. Or maybe you can buy black epoxy filler where you are. Bear in mind that since the tiller is so long, you'll only need half a millimeter at the top rear edge and half a mm at the bottom front edge. Use something very hard and flat as a sanding block and work as slowly as you need to to get it perfectly flat and square. Also note that the top edges inside the rudder head have a slight radius.
 
I had that problem one time and was thinking about using a shim. before I got around to doing that, the lower rudder gudgeon fell off. After replacing it - the problems was solved - no shim needed! So I would check the gudgeons first.
 
The rules let you add a spacer between the pintles and the gudgeons to lift the rudder higher. Add a washer or two there and see if that fixes the problem.
 
I would look at replacing/repairing the rudder head, as this was the root cause for my tiller hitting the traveller cleat.
 
TonyB said:
The rules let you add a spacer between the pintles and the gudgeons to lift the rudder higher. Add a washer or two there and see if that fixes the problem.
Click to expand...

i actually never thought of that! alright i'll try it out and see how it goes :)
hope i don't have to get a new tiller
 
My tiller also hits the traveller cleat. What do you mean by adding a spacer in between the gudgeons and the pintles? do you have a picture ? thanks
 
Thanks a lot but I live in the french-speaking part of Switzerland. (yeah, it's complicated I know.. we speak French, German and Italian over here..). I'm fluent in english but I couldn't get a good idea of where to place the washers. I'll have to take a look at my rudder.. I'll figure it out. Thanks alot for your translation ! =)
 
Swisssailor,
I have found a photo at Dick Tillmans Book "The complete Book of Lasersailing" (2nd Edition, page 31). I`ve made a scan of that photo for you. Give me an email address of you via private message and I post that photo to you. In respect of the rules of posting at TLF and the copyrights of the book of Dick Tillman, it's better to do it this way than to post the photo public here and Bradley probably would get trouble with International Marine Inc., the publishers of Tillmans book.

A bientôt {not much time and the Soccer EM does beginn at Switzerland ;) ;) ...}
LooserLu
 
Hey, I went sailing today. I bought a plastic washer and placed it on the upper pintle. It worked out perfectly but it was in light air conditions. I'll see how it works out in stronger winds.
 
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