Tiller material?

[steffenme1]

Hello Sunfish Forum.

I recently acquired a (new to me) '97 fish, however the previous owner did a pretty hack job attaching a universal joint to the original ash tiller so it will have to be replaced. I was going to knock one out in the woodshop right quick but I'm not sure if there are any restrictions regarding the materials allowed. I have a nice chunk of mahogany laying around that just happens to be the correct size for a tiller, I can go get a piece of ash if I need to but I like how free this bit of scrap is and mahogany finishes up awful nice.

I read the class rules here: http://sunfishclass.org/documents/ISCA_CLASS_RULES.pdf

And it states: Tiller. The tiller shall be supplied only by the Builder. Any material may be added to the
tiller for a maximum length of 16 inches to prevent chafing from contact with the bridle.

But that makes zero sense, the factory tiller I have is ~44" long, and later down in the rules it has a drawing of the tiller being no more than 48". perhaps my concept of what is considered the tiller is incorrect?

Thanks for any insight.

 

[beldar boathead]

You cannot make your own tiller and have it class-legal. I don't have my tiller around to measure, but it could be the old owner cut yours down a few inches.

 

[minifish2]

Hello Sunfish Forum.

I recently acquired a (new to me) '97 fish, however the previous owner did a pretty hack job attaching a universal joint to the original ash tiller so it will have to be replaced. I was going to knock one out in the woodshop right quick but I'm not sure if there are any restrictions regarding the materials allowed. I have a nice chunk of mahogany laying around that just happens to be the correct size for a tiller, I can go get a piece of ash if I need to but I like how free this bit of scrap is and mahogany finishes up awful nice.

I read the class rules here: http://sunfishclass.org/documents/ISCA_CLASS_RULES.pdf

And it states: Tiller. The tiller shall be supplied only by the Builder. Any material may be added to the
tiller for a maximum length of 16 inches to prevent chafing from contact with the bridle.

But that makes zero sense, the factory tiller I have is ~44" long, and later down in the rules it has a drawing of the tiller being no more than 48". perhaps my concept of what is considered the tiller is incorrect?

Thanks for any insight.

For high level racing you will want a legit factory-made tiller. For club racing nobody will probably care. If you do make one, make it exactly the same dimensions as the original, which means same as your 44 inch original. That 48" diagram notation I believe also included the aluminum tiller straps that screw on to the end, bringing the overall length to that.

The 16 inch reference in the rules probably could have been better stated. This does not mean an additional 16 inches to the tiller. It just means you can wrap a portion of the wood with some protective material in the middle of the tiller to prevent chafing by the wire traveller. Lots of people use duct tape or something similar. The rule just makes the point that you cannot wrap the whole tiller, only up to 16 inches of the middle.

The tiller extension is in addition to that. The advertisers on this board all have nice commercially made ones. Most use a reinforced flexible nylon 'universal joint' these days. They are inexpensive and an improvement over most arrangements of the past.

If you ever sell your boat, just be very sure to let the prospective buyer know about the homemade-ness.

 

[steffenme1]

It just means you can wrap a portion of the wood with some protective material in the middle of the tiller to prevent chafing by the wire traveller.

Ahhh... yes THAT makes perfect sense. I agree the rule isn't wonderfully written.

Thanks for the replies, I really don't think my club will care if I fashion a new one and I'm pretty sure I won't be attending Worlds anytime soon so I'm not going to sweat it too much.

Thanks again, I'll post up some pictures after I make the bugger.