Hi Greg,
I have used a Raymarine autohelm (Tiller Pilot) on our previous Tuna
#54 Mizzen with great results. It is by far the best setup for
singlehanding I have seen and will hold a course position with very
little deviation. Great for setting the spinnaker or gybing. The model
we had was an older one but looks very similar to the current offering.
See this link: http://www.raymarine.com/ProductDetail.aspx?SITE=1&SECTION=2&PAGE=87&PRODUCT=193
Unfortunately, they aren't cheap to buy. Check online for any deals.
We sold the autohelm with Mizzen and have not bought a replacement for
our new Tuna #817 Tickle. We'll get one eventually. I wish we still
had it !
We had an electrical plug mounted in the lazerette for the 12v power.
We made a wood mounting block that was mounted with screws at the
lazerette cover hinge area to support the autohelm base. The moveable
rod mounted to a round pin on our wood tiller. We drilled a hole in
the tiller the exact size and depth for the pin. A smaller hole was
drilled thru the tiller to help drive the pin out during removal. We
found the pin was in the way of our tiller extension so we learned to
deal with that. When sailing singlehanded I would remove and attach
the autohelm rod from the tiller pin as needed (it just sits on top of
the pin) so I could sail the boat during the beat. The autohelm was
used primarily during downwind spinnaker work. Yes, I did have the
autohelm round the boat up a couple of times in heavy wind but that
was rare. It usually held the course and compensated for the puffs.
We removed the mounting base from the lazerette and pin from the
tiller when we weren't using the autohelm and stowed it in the cabin
or took it home. Pretty easy to install and remove. Sorry, I don't
have any photos to show you the setup.
Hope this helps
See you on the water,
Jeff Carder
Tickle #817
MPYC
On Jun 9, 2009, at 4:03 PM, Greg B wrote:
> I am considering adding a tiller pilot for when I am singlehanding or
> sailing w/ my kids. Does anyone have experience with this?
> Likes/dislikes for the concept? Installation tips?
>> thanks!
>> gb
>> Hull 491 'Pearly J'
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Jeffrey Carder
(831) 262-1426 cell
jtcarder at comcast.net
