Found this info on the net, all about sheet to tiller self steering. Since
I have a tiller ,,

I read and re-read the web site info for the sheet to tiller set up.. I
still can't understand it. The pictures don't help and there are no
diagrams.

Figured one of you could explain better or send me to a site that shows
diagrams, and pictures that actually show the set up.

Tom (or whatever),

You forgot to include the link in your post. These kinds of self
steering rigs are very finicky, the king of thing you try to jury rig
after your real wind vane steerer breaks and you are facing days of
steering you hadn't planned on.

Some very long keeled boat can work pretty well with them but they
won't work very well on your Bristol 32, even if you don't sell it.

Give my regards to Captain Winchandle when you see him

--

Roger Long



"NE Sailboat" wrote in message
news:J2s%g.8604$gZ2.6181@trndny07...
Found this info on the net, all about sheet to tiller self steering.
Since I have a tiller ,,

I read and re-read the web site info for the sheet to tiller set
up.. I still can't understand it. The pictures don't help and
there are no
diagrams.

Figured one of you could explain better or send me to a site that
shows diagrams, and pictures that actually show the set up.

Yo .. Captain Roger .. on my Bristol 32, my self steering gear is a Bungy
Cord.

The link .. http://www.jsward.com/steering/index.shtml

This goes back to 1974. The author, apparently wrote a book that shows how
to set this up..

And before the Windvane, this method was used by some for very long
passages.

For the life of me, the article just doesn't make sense to me. I read it
five times.

Dumb I guess.

PS .. the B32 , will be nearby this coming season ,,, maybe.. depends of
crew.




"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
Tom (or whatever),

You forgot to include the link in your post. These kinds of self steering
rigs are very finicky, the king of thing you try to jury rig after your
real wind vane steerer breaks and you are facing days of steering you
hadn't planned on.

Some very long keeled boat can work pretty well with them but they won't
work very well on your Bristol 32, even if you don't sell it.

Give my regards to Captain Winchandle when you see him

--

Roger Long



"NE Sailboat" wrote in message
news:J2s%g.8604$gZ2.6181@trndny07...
Found this info on the net, all about sheet to tiller self steering.
Since I have a tiller ,,

I read and re-read the web site info for the sheet to tiller set up.. I
still can't understand it. The pictures don't help and there are no
diagrams.

Figured one of you could explain better or send me to a site that shows
diagrams, and pictures that actually show the set up.

NE Sailboat wrote:
Yo .. Captain Roger .. on my Bristol 32, my self steering gear is a Bungy
Cord.

The link .. http://www.jsward.com/steering/index.shtml

This goes back to 1974. The author, apparently wrote a book that shows how
to set this up..

And before the Windvane, this method was used by some for very long
passages.

For the life of me, the article just doesn't make sense to me. I read it
five times.

Dumb I guess.

PS .. the B32 , will be nearby this coming season ,,, maybe.. depends of
crew.


I tried this time after time on my Westsail 32 with no good results
despite reading in several places that it should work. I am very
skeptical that 'many long passages' were made this way aside from short
times off the tiller. The implication that you can leave the helm for
days while this arrangement works wasn't proved by my experiments.

-paul

On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 21:26:28 GMT, "NE Sailboat"
wrote:

This goes back to 1974. The author, apparently wrote a book that shows how
to set this up..

I bought the book back in the 70s and could never get it to work
either. As Roger said, it might be feasible on a heavy, long keeled
boat that is reasonably well balanced, and sails in winds of steady
strength. My boat at the time was a 28 ft fin keeler that was very
susceptible to weather helm when heeled. It wouldn't self steer worth
a darn and I ended up buying a tiller pilot which we nicknamed "Otto",
as in, Otto pilot. It was one of the best cruising investments we
ever made and the only thing I kept when we bought a bigger boat in
the 80s.

There's a really good book that describes how to do this. It's by John
Letcher and was published in the early 70's. Go to Barnes and Noble's used
and out of print books section (www.bn.com), search on John Letcher as
author, and see if you can find a copy.

I used that book to set up sheet to tiller steering on the 28' 3/4 keel
sloop that I owned back then, and it worked great. Wouldn't steer straight
down wind, of course, but on a beam reach to a beat it worked just fine.
Unless the boat got thrown way off course by a wave, it steered like a
champ. I'd set it up and sit back and read while it steered the boat. I
don't remember now, after all this time, how far aft the wind could be
before it stopped working, but it seems to me that the wind could be a fair
distance aft of the beam.

Best regards,
Tom Dacon

"NE Sailboat" wrote in message
news:J2s%g.8604$gZ2.6181@trndny07...
Found this info on the net, all about sheet to tiller self steering.
Since I have a tiller ,,

I read and re-read the web site info for the sheet to tiller set up.. I
still can't understand it. The pictures don't help and there are no
diagrams.

Figured one of you could explain better or send me to a site that shows
diagrams, and pictures that actually show the set up.

On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:37:41 -0700, "Tom Dacon"
wrote:

There's a really good book that describes how to do this. It's by John
Letcher and was published in the early 70's. Go to Barnes and Noble's used
and out of print books section (www.bn.com), search on John Letcher as
author, and see if you can find a copy.

http://tinyurl.com/ylgq3t

Been there, bought the book and done that. YMMV, but it didn't work
for me. Interesting book however.

In Paul Cassel writes:

NE Sailboat wrote:
Yo .. Captain Roger .. on my Bristol 32, my self steering gear is a Bungy
Cord.

The link .. http://www.jsward.com/steering/index.shtml

This goes back to 1974. The author, apparently wrote a book that shows how
to set this up..

And before the Windvane, this method was used by some for very long
passages.

For the life of me, the article just doesn't make sense to me. I read it
five times.

Dumb I guess.

PS .. the B32 , will be nearby this coming season ,,, maybe.. depends of
crew.


I tried this time after time on my Westsail 32 with no good results
despite reading in several places that it should work. I am very
skeptical that 'many long passages' were made this way aside from short
times off the tiller. The implication that you can leave the helm for
days while this arrangement works wasn't proved by my experiments.

Different boat behave differently in different directions of wind and sea
conditions. I have a 40" sloop, keel base some 7", so it is no long
keeler, but on a beat it steers nicely with a piece of rope from the
tiller to the windward rail. On the run I would not even dream of
letting it be more than about 10 seconds unattended with a passive self
steering, but my windvane is capable of steering for days. The longest
time I have sailed with the "string-steering" (hard on wind) is 22
hours, without anybody touching the helm. Then we had to tack, because
there was an Island in front of us.

The idea of having the the steering force from a sheet, is based on the
possibility that the pressure of the sheet can be balanced with the
pressure of the tiller. If the boat bears down there will be more
pressure and when the baot luffs up there will be less pressure and the
sail, usually the jib, either pulls the helm to windward or lets it down
to leeward. For this to work there must be certain amount of weather
helm, and the pressure of the wind on the jib must equal the need to
keep the tiller in proper position. It should be clear without saying,
that it is not easy to achieve this balance and the friction of the
ropes must be such, that it on other hand dampens some of the action,
but on the other hand is sensitive enough to react properly, not too
much and not too little.

Some boats will keep their course on certain conditions for hours, if
you just tie the tiller (or wheel) down, but most modern boats are a bit
too lively to do it on other courses than hard on wind.

- Lauri Tarkkonen

Tom,,

So, you have used it ... ok ok ... what and where does the jib sheet attach
to? Say we go with a starboard tack.

Wind from abeam to a beat... the sheet on the port side will be tight,
right. // the sheet on the starboard side is loose, right?

If the boat pulls into the wind { to starboard } the tiller is pulled to
port, right? So, this means that something must pull the tiller back to
starboard to keep the boat from pulling into the wind, right?

How is pressure applied to the windward side of the tiller ?? Is that the
stretch tuding that pulls it back to windward side?

I did this last summer with a bungy cord. I got her on course, attached my
cord and when the boat pulled into the wind the cord would pull a little.
Could hole a course for a few minutes, not long. But this was not a very
good set up.

If she would hold for one half an hour that would be great. Give me lots of
time to do other things.

If you could try to explain just a little better ... please?



"Tom Dacon" wrote in message
...
There's a really good book that describes how to do this. It's by John
Letcher and was published in the early 70's. Go to Barnes and Noble's used
and out of print books section (www.bn.com), search on John Letcher as
author, and see if you can find a copy.

I used that book to set up sheet to tiller steering on the 28' 3/4 keel
sloop that I owned back then, and it worked great. Wouldn't steer straight
down wind, of course, but on a beam reach to a beat it worked just fine.
Unless the boat got thrown way off course by a wave, it steered like a
champ. I'd set it up and sit back and read while it steered the boat. I
don't remember now, after all this time, how far aft the wind could be
before it stopped working, but it seems to me that the wind could be a
fair distance aft of the beam.

Best regards,
Tom Dacon

"NE Sailboat" wrote in message
news:J2s%g.8604$gZ2.6181@trndny07...
Found this info on the net, all about sheet to tiller self steering.
Since I have a tiller ,,

I read and re-read the web site info for the sheet to tiller set up.. I
still can't understand it. The pictures don't help and there are no
diagrams.

Figured one of you could explain better or send me to a site that shows
diagrams, and pictures that actually show the set up.

perhaps you needed a stiffer bungie cord?
"NE Sailboat" wrote in message
news:IoM%g.11278$iM2.8992@trndny08...
Tom,,

So, you have used it ... ok ok ... what and where does the jib sheet
attach to? Say we go with a starboard tack.

Wind from abeam to a beat... the sheet on the port side will be tight,
right. // the sheet on the starboard side is loose, right?

If the boat pulls into the wind { to starboard } the tiller is pulled to
port, right? So, this means that something must pull the tiller back to
starboard to keep the boat from pulling into the wind, right?

How is pressure applied to the windward side of the tiller ?? Is that
the stretch tuding that pulls it back to windward side?

I did this last summer with a bungy cord. I got her on course, attached
my cord and when the boat pulled into the wind the cord would pull a
little. Could hole a course for a few minutes, not long. But this was not
a very good set up.

If she would hold for one half an hour that would be great. Give me lots
of time to do other things.

If you could try to explain just a little better ... please?



"Tom Dacon" wrote in message
...
There's a really good book that describes how to do this. It's by John
Letcher and was published in the early 70's. Go to Barnes and Noble's
used and out of print books section (www.bn.com), search on John Letcher
as author, and see if you can find a copy.

I used that book to set up sheet to tiller steering on the 28' 3/4 keel
sloop that I owned back then, and it worked great. Wouldn't steer
straight down wind, of course, but on a beam reach to a beat it worked
just fine. Unless the boat got thrown way off course by a wave, it
steered like a champ. I'd set it up and sit back and read while it
steered the boat. I don't remember now, after all this time, how far aft
the wind could be before it stopped working, but it seems to me that the
wind could be a fair distance aft of the beam.

Best regards,
Tom Dacon

"NE Sailboat" wrote in message
news:J2s%g.8604$gZ2.6181@trndny07...
Found this info on the net, all about sheet to tiller self steering.
Since I have a tiller ,,

I read and re-read the web site info for the sheet to tiller set up.. I
still can't understand it. The pictures don't help and there are no
diagrams.

Figured one of you could explain better or send me to a site that shows
diagrams, and pictures that actually show the set up.