Singlehanded daysailing tiller idea

[benajah]

Hi all, I am new to sailing (have taken formal courses and sailed with the family several times but am not very seasoned) but have been on powerboats most of my life. I have been trying to figure out a way to control the tiller while doing other things like hoisting a jib, taking it down, reefing the main, etc, without an autopilot, and I had an idea from when I used to run power boats with outboards a lot.
I am also an alpine mtn climber, so sometimes use wild rope systems for that make sense to me but I have a hard time describing
We used to lash a line to the tiller, looped in a big circle on blocks, run through a caribiner on our harnesses, so when we needed to go forward, we could get the boat balanced as well as possible, set the tiller with bungees, then head foreward. From there, we could do what we needed to do, but if we needed to operate the tiller, we had a line attached to us we could steer with. It worked perfectly....on a powerboat.
So far, I'm scared to death of taking a hand off the tiller for a second because I don't know enough about steering with trim, using the jib to balance a tiller with a line, sail and keel balance, etc, need lots of practice,
But does this idea sound like it may have some usefulness, or are the changes in heading and balance on a sailboat too rapid to allow for the change in attention and the time that takes?

[paulk]

A lot depends upon what you're sailing, the point of sail, and the overall conditions. The best advice is to give it a try, and remember to have your harness clipped in when you go forward. Some boats are set up with a set of vertical wooden teeth, like a "comb" within the arc of the tiller. A corresponding peg attached to the underside of the tiller fits in it so you can drop the tiller into whatever notch holds the boat on course without having lines all over the place to trip you up. Tillers: Information from Answers.com

[john1066]

Most sailboaters who don't have an electronic tiller pilot either just lash the helm or use a device such as a Tiller Tamer or a Tiller-Hand to hold the helm while they go forward.

Your version adds the ability to steer remotely but via a complex piece of rope work. At the speed sailboats travel it's probably never been found to be necessary.

[TQA]

Get a tillerpilot as soon as you can, if you are single handing it is not a luxury item but a safety item.

Sure you can manage without one using some kind of tiller locking device but having one allows you a lot more time to things away from the tiller.

[arknoah]

Here is a link to an extensive monograph on single hand sailing.

http://sfbaysss.org/tipsbook/SinglehandedTips.pdf

Starting on page 5-1 (63) you will find his description of a method for controlling the tiller that involves regular line in addition to either shock cord or surgical tubing. I got some surgical tubing from our college's nursing program and intend to try this method once we are launched. If it doesn't work as well as I'd like, I'll probably purchase a Tiller Clutch.

[Barquito]

When single handing my catalina 22 I could do 95% of the things I wanted to just by letting the boat sail itself. If balanced correctly it would slowly luff-up. I agree that in a bigger boat, on bigger waters a tiller pilot is a safety item for single handed sailors. However, you must realize that by adding a tiller pilot if you go overboard, your boat WILL sail away from you.

[Waltthesalt]

I think modern tiller pilots have remote controls. When singlehandling I wear a harness with an inflatable PFD and always clip on. You can also just let the sheets fly while you go forward to do what you need to do. Many arond here lead lines back to the cockpit

[SailKing1]

benajah,

I used to use three bungee cords on my 26 islander. I would wrap one around the tiller in a single loop and attach the other two, one on each side to the ends on the one wrapped around the tiller. Then attach the other ends to the stern pulpit eyes where the lifeline connected.

Once you have set course you can leave the tiller and there is enough play to allow for the tiller to maintain course. I used to go forward and sit for long periods of time without having to make any adjustment.

There are more precise methods of attaching the lines to the tiller and boom so as the change in sail will correct the tiller and keep you on course. This is just a quick and easy way for a day sail.

[MarkSF]

Hard to answer as you don't say how big the boat is. On a small daysailer, moving your weight forward will change the balance enough to immediately change course. On a larger boat, not so much.

What works on any size sailboat is to quickly heave to while you go forward.

I kept a couple of bungee cords on each side of the cockpit, to fasten the tiller to either side for heaving to.