Well done Sector !!

congrats steve great looking passage maker

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Sectorsteve said..
Bay of islands. Inside shes beautiful.
The couple chartered this boat.
Has lovely interior light. Portholes in deck and sides. She spoiled me for anything else around.

Wow, you went all the way to Tauranga for that boat? Was it much cheaper than buying in AU?

Thanks for the replys! I did notice that on some boats with wheels, they do greatly the pilot going forward without climbing over the cockpit lockers or people because of the size of the cockpit and wheel (cav32 is one I noticed) I am open to both if the right boat comes along. I personally don't think the sweep of the tiller in the cockpit is that big of a deal. You usually warn everyone if you are about to tack or gybe, don't you? And most only last for a few seconds. Even coming about. Jibes you usually pull in your mainsheet anyways, at least that was what I was taught to do, so that gives them fair warning as well. I can see if your misses is sunbathing and while doing a tack, she finds the end of the tiller up her bum crack, that might lead to a few nasty words, but other than that, your crew should know or taught the terms you will use when sailing.

Anyways, my pick of boats are limited do to head height (need over 6'2" headroom) so my list is quite small since I don't want to go small and don't want to really go larger than 34'. But the majority (Within my budget of< $35k) seem to have wheel steering. At least the cruisers do. Thats why I thought wheel was better for cruising. Plus, everyones opinion was wheel was better for long distance cruising and going downwind and tiller for everything else.

If you have passengers on your tiller steered yacht have them sit at the rear of the cockpit, behind the tiller. This is awkward if the traveler goes across the stern but if you have the traveller on the bridge deck this keeps the office clear. In harbour the tiller can be left vertical and the full cockpit is free.

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Ramona said..
If you have passengers on your tiller steered yacht have them sit at the rear of the cockpit, behind the tiller. This is awkward if the traveler goes across the stern but if you have the traveller on the bridge deck this keeps the office clear. In harbour the tiller can be left vertical and the full cockpit is free.

Like I said,, Wheels can be more crew/people friendly and lifting the tiller vertical depends on if you can.

I have a tiller on Santana a 40' 14 tonne canoe stern long keeled yacht. She can be a handful in a blow, but the fleming keeps her in line for all of our offshore sailing. I have a remote raymarine tiller ram for motoring in flat seas or up rivers.
Contemplating more offshore passages next year, I am considering a heavy duty Linear Drive Hydraulic Autopilot as a backup to the fleming. the hydraulic ram will be externally mounted directly to a fabricated stainless steel tiller off the rudder. I am looking at a TMQ autopilot.
The purpose of this installation would be that if in extreme weather, if I (or the fleming) was incapacitated, the wife or kids can punch the autopilot on and keep sailing.
5 x boat dollars well spent? I will let you know!

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santanasaga said..
I have a tiller on Santana a 40' 14 tonne canoe stern long keeled yacht. She can be a handful in a blow, but the fleming keeps her in line for all of our offshore sailing. I have a remote raymarine tiller ram for motoring in flat seas or up rivers.
Contemplating more offshore passages next year, I am considering a heavy duty Linear Drive Hydraulic Autopilot as a backup to the fleming. the hydraulic ram will be externally mounted directly to a fabricated stainless steel tiller off the rudder. I am looking at a TMQ autopilot.
The purpose of this installation would be that if in extreme weather, if I (or the fleming) was incapacitated, the wife or kids can punch the autopilot on and keep sailing.
5 x boat dollars well spent? I will let you know!

If your Raymarine tiller pilot has a separate control and compass, It wouldn't be too difficult to use the controller to provide a signal for controlling a simple hydraulic linear drive or a larger electric linear actuator .

Why not just remove the airblade on the Fleming and use the tiller pilot to this instead. The Fleming will never fail. Tiller pilot by itself is rated about 25 kilos. Used in conjuntion with a servo windvane the tiller pilot will only use a low effort and last a reasonable time but with the servo will be able to exert 160+ kilos of effort.

Definitely wheel steering on a cruiser. My admittedly limited time with a tiller meant back and neck pain 100% of the time and that was when I was younger and much fitter. I can't even imagine the discomfort now. Whereas, 18hrs stretches at the wheel now may just mean some tired legs if I chose or needed to stand for extended periods. Very easy to do long stretches with hand, feet or whatever and always comfy. Mind you, getting the autopilot working has now helped even more.

Congrats Steve. That is a mighty fine ship. Now all you need is a bevy of young women to hang off the bowsprit and do a bit of crewing, and your U tube channel is set. Enjoy!

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Jolene said..

santanasaga said..
I have a tiller on Santana a 40' 14 tonne canoe stern long keeled yacht. She can be a handful in a blow, but the fleming keeps her in line for all of our offshore sailing. I have a remote raymarine tiller ram for motoring in flat seas or up rivers.
Contemplating more offshore passages next year, I am considering a heavy duty Linear Drive Hydraulic Autopilot as a backup to the fleming. the hydraulic ram will be externally mounted directly to a fabricated stainless steel tiller off the rudder. I am looking at a TMQ autopilot.
The purpose of this installation would be that if in extreme weather, if I (or the fleming) was incapacitated, the wife or kids can punch the autopilot on and keep sailing.
5 x boat dollars well spent? I will let you know!

If your Raymarine tiller pilot has a separate control and compass, It wouldn't be too difficult to use the controller to provide a signal for controlling a simple hydraulic linear drive or a larger electric linear actuator .

What would this look like? a set of reversing relays? I know that there are three wires powering the tiller...would any rudder feedback be required?

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Ramona said..
Why not just remove the airblade on the Fleming and use the tiller pilot to this instead. The Fleming will never fail. Tiller pilot by itself is rated about 25 kilos. Used in conjuntion with a servo windvane the tiller pilot will only use a low effort and last a reasonable time but with the servo will be able to exert 160+ kilos of effort.

I have managed to break the fleming - once coming into the EAC from New Caledonia (30kt SE wind), and also on the way to Lord Howe, but I have reinforced and braced the existing brackets and now have no movement / flex.

The setup on a canoe stern with transom hung rudder is not exactly straight forward, and I dont really blame the fleming for breaking!

I will look in to installing the fleming onto the wind vane - but it is a long way "out" to the vane will have to extend the tiller pilot wiring and add an additional bracket for the ram.

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About2 said..
Definitely wheel steering on a cruiser. My admittedly limited time with a tiller meant back and neck pain 100% of the time and that was when I was younger and much fitter. I can't even imagine the discomfort now. Whereas, 18hrs stretches at the wheel now may just mean some tired legs if I chose or needed to stand for extended periods. Very easy to do long stretches with hand, feet or whatever and always comfy. Mind you, getting the autopilot working has now helped even more.

Yes, that's what I wonder. I've had the tiller for several hours at a time, but never in open ocean. How does one deal with the neck at an angle crossing an ocean for several days?

I can see where a wheel would be beneficial in that sense, and can always make a seat behind the wheel.

I just like the idea of having little movable parts, cheap AP, and more space at anchor. But not if its going to cause me neck issues in the future

If your racing and the rules forbid autopilots or windvane self steering I can understand hand steering for periods longer than 5 minutes. If your cruising or racing in events such as the Golden Globe you only hand steer for short periods.

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fretbrner said..

About2 said..
Definitely wheel steering on a cruiser. My admittedly limited time with a tiller meant back and neck pain 100% of the time and that was when I was younger and much fitter. I can't even imagine the discomfort now. Whereas, 18hrs stretches at the wheel now may just mean some tired legs if I chose or needed to stand for extended periods. Very easy to do long stretches with hand, feet or whatever and always comfy. Mind you, getting the autopilot working has now helped even more.

Yes, that's what I wonder. I've had the tiller for several hours at a time, but never in open ocean. How does one deal with the neck at an angle crossing an ocean for several days?

I can see where a wheel would be beneficial in that sense, and can always make a seat behind the wheel.

I just like the idea of having little movable parts, cheap AP, and more space at anchor. But not if its going to cause me neck issues in the future

Hi Fret,
I get neck issues after a few hours of being on a kite sheet from craning my neck looking up at the top part of the luff. but I can't say I have had the same issues from helming with a tiller. I'm wondering if this is more predicated by the boat design than a tiller or wheel?

Ramona is right about helming, if I'm cruising I rarely helm. I find it more fun being able to play with the strings and to move about the boat.
An important part in this regard is checking the autopilot is in the optimal mounting position. I put my first tiller pilot too far down the tiller, and the extra arc the tiller had to work through really sucked battery power and caused a few end stop alarms.
I pulled it off and re-did the mountings to as per the user guide, and it made a big difference. Just something to keep an eye out on any potential new boat purchase, or if none exists how you can best mount one.
Underdeck autopilots are sooo good at this, but sadly are the dearer end of the market.