BYYB Forums

When I built my Weekender, I decided I wanted a through-the transom tiller and went ahead and built it.  I like the way it works, but it leaves a big horizontal open slot in the Lazarette.  Perfect for rainwater (or worse..lake water!) to get in.  I'd like to avoid that problem in my new Vacationer.  I'm looking for ideas for an over-the-transom tiller arrangement that doesn't interfere with the boom rigging for the mainsheet.  Any ideas?

Dave

Frank has a great picture and description of what many of us have done.  You can find it here:
http://www.frankhagan.com/weekender/runrig.htm
Scroll down until you see the photo of the tiller.

Bill

hello Dave,

I'm in the process of converting from the wheel to a tiller right now.  I am going over the transom with mine mostly for the reason that I want the lazarette to be water tight storage.  In my case, I also had a taff rail and a hatch cover to deal with, so I drew my rudder box to be fairly high.  I may be over building the whole rig, but I have had most of my problems with the boat in the steering department. 

When I rigged my main sheet, I used Frank's method and have been fairly happy with it.  I did discover that in order to keep the main sheet from catching on things, you have to haul in like crazy when you tack then let it all back out.  I'm thinking about trying a different set up that will require less activity but give me essentially the same sheeting angle that I get now.

If you go to Pepin, I will have a bunch of enhancements on the Duck this year as well as a new sailing canoe.  Its going to be a busy spring.

Al

Thanks guys!  The main sheet rigging was what I was most concerned about.  I envisioned the line catching on just about everything.  Al, let me know if you come up with a better solution than Frank's.

Dave

A metal traveler horse will help keep the sheets from fouling the tiller.

Paul:  Do you have a photo or drawing?

Dave

A "soft" traveler, which is just a line tied to a couple of eye bolts, bracketing the tiller. This set up can collapse and foul the tiller in a tack.




This is a home made "horse" on a double ender.



The advantage is the sheet remains standing, though pictured, the block could flop over. If it was replaced with a stand up block, this wouldn't happen. This particular setup also doesn't let the tiller pivot up very far, but this could be addressed with a "broken back" tiller (hinged under the horse).

Horses and travelers can take up all sorts of configurations, but typically gaffers use a simple thing, like a length of pipe, between to two saddles (wooden pieces bolted to the deck).  Some horses are curved, to match the radius from the mast. This allows the sheet to remain as it was on the previous tack, without adjustment. To make a horse a traveler, you just need to attach some tackle to each end, so you can drag the sheet across the horse, for a better lead angle.

Lastly you could attach the main sheet to the top of the rudder head, as close as practice to the leading edge. This clears the tiller and keeps things simple, but you'll lose the purchase advantage of a horse or traveler.

Search for "Assembling Rosebud" in this blog to see my over the transom tiller. I love it.

Greetings Dave,

One of the Laser sailors at the local pond has a unique rope traveller setup that I first mistook for a bridle. It is a continuous loop of line that is tied to the becket of the bottom block of the mainsheet tackle, runs down to a padeye on the port side of the transom, then across the stern (under the tiller) to the starboard side padeye, and then back up to tie off on the becket. When the main sheet is slacked off, you can grab the line and pull the mainsheet block from one side of the boat to the other just like a traveller. When the mainsheet is snugged up there is enough friction at the padeyes to hold the traveller in place. Very clever.

The main sail on a laser runs about 75 square feet, which is close to a Weekender main sail. The Vacationer is bigger, but it still might work. In any case, you could always run the lower section of the traveller through a near-midship mounted stopper block if there is not enough friction.

Cheers,
Tom

Greetings Dave,

You could always just move the main sheet forward along the boom to clear the tiller. Below are some photos of the mainsheet tackle from a 25 ft Seaward trailer sailer attending the Navy Pier incarnation of Strictly Sail. This setup allows the main sheet to also act as a boom vang to flatten and depower the mainsail.

You could either build a short bridge deck, or just cut a wedge out of a suitably thick board to span the distance between the seats just below the cabin hatch. Then a short piece of track, a car, and a modified mainsheet tackle with an extra purchase should be all that you need.

I might even add a short bridle to the boom to spread the sheeting loads as you will lose mechanical advantage as the sheet attachment point moves away from the end of the boom.

Some will complain that this setup will foul your entry into the cabin, but this will only happen when you are very close hauled in a blow and you really want the boom on the center-line of the boat and the mainsail as flat as possible. The rest of the time will find the car some distance off to leeward and the cabin entry will be clear.

Cheers,
Tom





Note: the black straps attached just outboard of the track ends are stabilizers for the canvas dodger over the cabin hatch, and are not part of the mainsheet tackle.



From just eyeballing the above conveniently handy Vacationer photo, it looks like the mainsheet will move about halfway down the boom, which will just about double the mainsheet loads, so maybe a four part tackle is in order - becket block on the traveler car and a double block (or two singles) on the boom.