Imagine this, you are sailing single handed and you
have to attend an urgent "meeting" at the head! Wearing
your foul weather gear would probably make this a worst case
scenario but what are you going
to do, considering that you don't have automatic steering and it's pretty difficult to ignore this
"meeting"! You could hove to, which is probably the
calmest motion to hold a "meeting," (no pun
intended). There are other less daunting but equally important tasks like having to walk forward to adjust a whisker
pole, reduce sail or retrieve that dear child you lashed in the pulpit.
Then there are those important trips to the galley to maintain your body and soul,
to change clothing or to actually
check the chart. While hove to has the advantage that other boats can easily
manoeuvre around
you, wouldn't it be nice to stay on course while you
leave the tiller? The safety, peace of mind and convenience of it all is sheer decadence,
especially if you are passage making when distance and time are all
important. Think of all the things you can
do while "Otto" is steering. You could actually arrive relaxed,
with all your boat jobs done! Now there's a novel thought.
LASHED
TILLER - While
lashing the tiller isn't actually self steering, an SJ23 can be trimmed
to sail fairly
well balanced. It is easily capable of sailing a straight course without adjustment for
half an hour. There are many reports of people who have sailed a
straight course
for several hours with the tiller lashed. However, this requires
a steady
wind and minimal weight shifting around the boat! Pay attention to
detail and you can steer by shifting weight. This capability bodes
well for adapting a self steering system to an SJ23. Listed below
are several different techniques used by other SJ23 sailors.
-
LINE ACROSS the COCKPIT
- "I tie a piece of scrap line across the cockpit, with one turn around the tiller. Tie one end to a
stern cleat and tie the other end (through a short bungee) to the cleat on the
opposite side. Tension the bungee just enough to hold the tiller in place
while still making it possible to move the tiller. Works as well as you can expect a locked
tiller to work, equally poor under sail or power. The advantage is that
you can get a few seconds of freedom to leave the tiller. However, you
will soon lust for an electric autopilot. The Navico TP100
(now Simrad TP10) sells for about $400
from Boat US. Well worth the investment
in my humble opinion." Jim Thompson.
-
SHEET TO TILLER STEERING
-
Click here for a good article on the subject.
-
TILLER TAMER - "I have both a Tiller Tamer and a Raymarine ST2000+
and use the Tiller Tamer all the time. This frees me up and I
don't have to pay attention to my heading all the time. Recently
I shifted more weight to the bow and it has changed the way she sails
dramatically. The turn of the transom just barely touches the
surface. Once the boat is trimmed out it will sail to the wind
quite well. Well enough that I can make a trip to the fore deck
without worrying if she will head upwind.
After
experiencing the performance of an Autohelm 300 (now Raymarine
ST1000+) on another SJ23, I bought a Raymarine ST2000+ (ST
= Seatalk) for
Panache. It has a more robust drive mechanism than the ST1000+ which should
relate to longer life. It also adjusts twice as quick which relates to a straight course
on small waves.
It quickly becomes over powered in rough water though. The slight increase in current draw is insignificant. After a
20KM delivery trip it is wonderful
to arrive at the dock with all my chores done and the
boat ready for haul out. I don't mind steering, but I hate being a slave to the tiller
on such a long trip in near freezing weather. So far the ST2000+ has performed well under sail
in light air provided I stay on the same tack. I've added
direction arrows to the key pad to simplify the logic of pushing the
correct switch to keep the boat on the correct heading. I would love to have a wind vane equipped with
NMEA output
to sail by. If you have ever experienced sailing to a vane you
know how nice this can be." Bob.
 INSTALLATION
- A Tiller Tamer is the tension device of choice for many SJ23 sailors.
With the friction set I let go of the tiller so Panache can sail
free to the wind. This works
well on calm water with balance sails. I can
also leave the cockpit for a short duration to tend to a task elsewhere. The line
ends are tied to the pushpit legs
from where
they
lead fair into the Tamer and are out of the way for all but access
over the tiller slot. For years I tied a trucker's rolling hitch
to one side (Tech Tip E012)
to tension the line but with time it worked itself
loose, creating slack. This
was annoying so I recently added a dual cam cleat to grip the
line under tension. I wanted something that is quick to set or
release.
The SS sheet (wear protector) is glued to the fibreglass and bolted under the cleat.
Access to the nylock nuts behind is fairly easy if you empty the port
locker.
As it turns out this quick release is perfect to access the
outboard engine or rudder. By releasing the cam cleat I can step
to the transom (over the tiller) to do my work and when I'm done, reset the
line. So much easier than stepping over the line with a good
chance of loosing stuff in the drink. I should have done this
years ago.
-
SAIL WITHOUT A RUDDER
-
Practice straight-line steering first. Sail onto a close-hauled
or close-reaching course lash the tiller amidships. Line up the
forestay or bow pulpit on two distant objects. Try to stay lined
up on your natural range.
How to Sail in a Straight Line
-
Heading up -
Trim the mainsheet and ease the jib or genoa sheet. Move the
crew forward to lower the bow and raise the stern.
-
Falling off -
Trim the jib or genoa and ease the mainsheet. Move the crew aft to
lower the stern and raise the bow.
How to fall off the wind
-
Sail Trim -
Ease the main and keep the headsail sheeted in. If needed, backwind
the headsail to push the bow to leeward. If the boat refuses to fall
off, reef the main or change to a larger headsail.
-
Crew position -
Move the crew aft.
How to head up toward the wind
Sail trim -
Sheet in the main and ease the headsail.
Crew position -
Move the crew forward.
How to Tack
-
Sail trim -
Sheet in the main and ease the headsail. When almost
into the wind, pull on the windward headsail sheet to backwind the
jib and help turn the bow through the wind.
-
Crew position -
Move the crew forward. After tacking, move the crew
aft.
How to Jibe
Sail trim -
Turn the boat off the wind as described above (see step 2). With
good momentum, you should be able to pass the stern through the
wind. Just before the jibe, sheet the main flat amidships and let
the headsail fly free. Quickly ease the main immediately after the
jibe to prevent your boat from rounding up to windward.
Crew position -
Move the crew aft.
 STEERING
FROM THE BOW - If you make a quick trip to the bow while
your tiller is lashed, you will discover that the hull will eventually head
upwind with your weight forward. This can be a bit annoying if you wish
to stay up there because the view is great. You could consider installing
a steering control line to stay on course. It consists of a long loop
of line around the perimeter of the boat with ends that tie off to the tiller. With this line you can
steer to compensate for the weight shift
by tweaking
the tiller from wherever you are on deck.
"Once at the foredeck you
can tweak the control line to steer the boat while working or simply enjoying the
unobstructed view. The control line consists of 1/4" line that starts at the
tiller, goes to a turning block at the edge of the cockpit, runs forward along the
toe rail to the bow, around the pulpit, back to the cockpit along the
other toe rail and finally around another turning block at the edge of
the cockpit back to the tiller.
The
connection at the tiller consists of a stainless ring that slips over the
end of the tiller. If you attach opposing shock
cords to bias the tiller to the center of the cockpit it does a pretty
good job of keeping the boat on
course. Balance the tension of the shock cords to set the tiller angle.
The tiller can be moved without having to disconnect the shock cord.
The
ring can also be slipped off the tiller for quick drastic movement.
Click here for a more detailed image of the connection to the
tiller. The details are important" Art Brown.
Sounds like it could be fun to steer the boat
from the pulpit! If you have a Tiller Tamer, then you should be able
to eliminate the shock cords.
WIND VANE STEERING - I am intrigued
by a
wind vane. It requires no electricity, operates dead quiet, the sails stay tuned to
the wind and it can usually be
repaired onboard. A vane is great for keeping a boat
moving and minimizing your fatigue. It will outperform its
electronic equivalent. However, for an SJ23 there are quite a few obstacles to fit
one on the narrow transom that is holding an outboard
engine, a rudder
and a boarding ladder. This hardware makes it very difficult to
fabricate a suitable mounting arrangement or to find swing room for the
servo pendulum steering blade.
To overcome this you will likely have to
mount it on an "oil derrick assembly" behind the rudder that would really spoil the appearance of an otherwise beautiful
hull. This is probably the main reason why nobody has reported using a wind
vane on an SJ23.
The desire for a simple design, such as trim tabs on the primary rudder
or direct connection to the boat's rudder, often lead to a poor
performing device. The servo pendulum design offers the greatest sensitivity and
most power
to operate the tiller on all points of sail. It is a more complex device
than the other designs but its most desirable feature is the strong yaw damping
that the oar provides. This feature is crucial for an SJ23. A few things are
apparent for selecting a wind vane for an SJ23:
- The selection of a wind vane is usually dependant on the boat (lazarette space,
steering quadrant accessibility, wheel or tiller steering, tolerance or
objection to control lines in the cockpit, mounting arrangement and so forth.
These are all important considering the small SJ23 cockpit.
- A transom hung rudder offers the opportunity to control the rudder
directly with a link from the pendulum, thus eliminating the turning
blocks and tiller control lines that take cockpit space. Bonus
for a small cockpit.
- Downwind performance is where a few models excel and others fail completely
because of excessive internal control friction between the vane and the oar.
An inverted vane tends to operate better down wind. If the
vane has poor downwind steering then it wouldn't be good for a SJ23.
- The sensing vane must be centered on the stern to be in the dead zone
of the air spilling off the mainsail, even when beating. This
way the vane can be adjusted the same on either tack.
- Most vanes have an adjustment for wind velocity (vane size,
angle of attack, connecting rod sensitivity) so they should be similar in setup trim.
- Instant steering disconnect is mandatory when sailing on a lake or
in congested coastal waters.
- Sailing in shallow water demands a kick-up feature to prevent obstacle damage,
with easy/quick reconnect to resume sailing. This is best
achieved with an aft sloping pendulum design. This aft slope
blade also sheds weeds
more easily than a vertical blade. It must be installed behind
the rudder.
- Must be easy to flip the steering pendulum up for storage when the boat is
unattended.
- Must be easy to adjust for varying sea states, (counter weight on
the vane).
- Pendulum swing to rudder control amount must be adjustable. (on
initial tuning).
- Vane axle tilt angle must be easily adjustable to control dead band
and to control speed application.
- Must be easy to tack with.
Overall I would choose a unit based on: light air performance, ease of mounting,
170 degree rotation of the steering oar to vertical for fast removal from service,
shear pin and oar retention upon hitting an obstruction, weedless performance, and a unit that does not require a spare parts kit.
Many vanes require a spare parts kit for servicing while under
way - which might be over the stern in choppy water.
I think all of the above can be done with the Monitor, Sailomat or Windpilot designs
from
Walt Murray. The final choice
will likely be an emotional relationship, not unlike that with
the opposite sex!
- Monitor (Scanmar) - Expensive but possible.
- Sailomat
- Expensive but possible.
- Hydrovane -
Expensive but possible. Vane on a "stick".
- Wind
Pilot (welcome to the world of silent steering).
-
VectaVane -
This may be a good vane to fit on an SJ23 since the
auxiliary rudder might fit between the rudder and the
boarding ladder, ahead of and out of the way of the main rudder and
the engine.
- Mr. Vee - New
in 2006. An excellent downwind performer. The simplicity is wonderful.
-
Self-Steering designs by Walt
Murray - Very good potential for an SJ23.
(Walt has passed on but
his good designs are still available. They are now hosted on the
Mr. Vee site).
- Blue
Moment - For a good description of the different type of vanes
available.
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