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CS 17 Tiller ideas


Tgabe

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Hey Builders of Fine Watercraft;

I need to make some decisions about the tiller.

Straight tiller or curved?  The pictures of the curved tillers look really nice, but is it less practical.

Tiller length?  My CS17 has the open cockpit, not the back deck, so I feel like I don't need 48" tiller as shown in the plans.  Any thoughts?

Pivot or not?  If I am reading it correctly, the tiller is glued to the top of the rudder case and does not pivot up and down, nor is it removable.

This seems like it would be less than ideal.  I looked up tiller hardware and the tilting bracket can be as much as $300.  What have others done?   

Show me your tiller!

 

Thanks.

 

-Tom

 

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This topic comes up every now and again. I didn't like the idea of a glued on tiller.  It is harder to store and occassionally I like to lift the tiller up to go under it comeing about with others on board. As to curved or not, I made a curved one for my Lapwing and simply followed the directions on my Spindrift, cept for the hinge.  I would not make a curved one again.  There is nothing really wrong with it, but the straight one works better with the downhaul and if you have one, an uphaul.

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You definitely need the full length tiller.  Especially in a 17, you need to sit up near the middle thwart, especially upwind, even if you're not alone in the boat.  You need to keep the crew weight in the center.  That requires the full length of the tiller.

 

Mine is shown in the photo.  I also have a tiller extension, which isn't shown because I took it off to do some work on it.   You'll see my tiller is straight, but that's a matter of convenience in construction.  Curved looks nice.

 

As to pivoting, I can't imagine not having the pivot.  It would be like a boom that didn't pivot, or something.  But making the pivot is so easy, so why not.  It may not show as well in my photo, but my setup is the same as Dave's.  My tiller straddles the rudder head, and a bolt through the back keeps it on. As Dave noted, that also allows for more compact storage if needed.

 

Finally, you'll see a tiller lock on the bottom of mine, near the knob end.  I use it a lot, but that's a different discussion.

 

Happy sailing.

 

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Chick is right about keeping your weight near the center thwart, at least when sailing solo.  Too far back, and the transom gets down in the water creating turbulence and drag.  For my CS15, I made my first tiller too short and had to reach back to get the trim right.

 

To compensate, I made my 2nd tiller too long.  Too long is when it's awkward to shift across the cockpit when tacking and jibing.

 

Also, if you make the tiller long, its easy to make it shorter.  Not so, the other way 'round, I found.

 

My tiller pivots up like the ones above. Sometimes it's nice to just push it up and out of the way. Drill, epoxy fill, drill and a 1/4 -20 SS bolt.

 

Bob

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