Bungee cord self steering system

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mickyp168

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A mate recently sent me a Youtube video demonstrating a self steering system made from a length of bungee cord wrapped around the tiller and secured on cleats at the side of the cockpit. The headsail sheet is then attached as well. If the head sail shifts in the wind the bungee tension compensates and brings the head back on course. Its simple, (although you have to watch it a few times to completely understand how to set it up) works a treat, there is nothing electrical to go wrong, and all for the cost of some bungee cord. The guy demonstrating it is in mid Atlantic sailing on the Jester Challenge so it's no gimmick . I was wondering if anyone out there has used such a device and if its that simple and good why there is no commercially available system I can find which would save you the cost of a tiller pilot or self steering system ?
Cheers
Mick
 
That will be Len's video, he of this parish. It works very well but I believe Len has spent quite a while tuning the setup to his boat. I'm not sure it would be a commercial off-the-shelf one-size-fits-all solution and I'm certain that not many of us would have his patience and perserverance in setting it correctly.
 
Very commonly used, but is limited to relatively narrow points of sailing and requires experimentation on each individual boat to get the right sail balance and the right amount of tension on the bungee. Good in constant wind and wind forward of the beam. The Steersman device (sometimes featured here) is a commercial version following the same principles but is both expensive and complicated (compared with a bit of bungee and some fittings) so has not made much impression on the market.

Many boats will virtually sail themselves anyway on some points of sail and these are the easy ones that respond best to simple devices like this, but they sail to the wind rather than a compass heading which is fine if that is what you want, but again limiting as a general "autopilot" function.
 
We had a wind vane and you need to balance the boat's sails to achieve a neutral helm. One day we decided to lock the wind vane then balance the boat then lock the steering wheel and see what happened. We stayed on course for a 120 nm passage. Our boat was heavy displacement with a long keel and cutaway forefoot so it was inherently stable. I have never tried it and don't know if it would work with an AWB but worth a try, balancing takes time to learn because of different wind strengths so take your time and don't give up quickly. If you have tiller steering tie it off in a central position when balanced.
 
Last edited:
Jungle Jim said:
I'm not sure it would be a commercial off-the-shelf one-size-fits-all solution and I'm certain that not many of us would have his patience and perserverance in setting it correctly.
Click to expand...

You might be interested in the Steersman http://www.steersman.net/ which is commercial off-the-shelf. (I have no personal experience with it, but they guy in charge is very nice.)

Tammy Norie sails a very consistent course upwind with a bungee between the tiller and pushpit, but that's mainly because of the junk rig. There's a bit of a demo here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScnZxiHsnKg . You might be able to achieve something similar if you're prepared to balance the main against a bungee and do with less headsail.

This thread over at the Junk Rig Association forums has quite a few pointers to online resources about sheet-to-tiller (and not just for junk rigs). Have a dig http://www.junkrigassociation.org/technical_forum/1493031
 
Yes, I used it for years. Does work, but not very precise control. Lets you cook, do chartwork etc and carry on more or less in the right direction. OK from to windward, when most boats can steer themselves anyway with helm locked and slight sail trim adjustment, round to a broad reach under main and jib. Only way I've ever made it work on a run is with two headsails and no main. Physiotherapy-type rubber strapping much better than bungee cord as the elastic - bungee cord is too non-linear in stretch characteristics
 
Very limited points of sail and you need to balance the sails. It becomes almost impossible to use this method when the wind is not constant and you have gusts. I have used this methods (sheet to tiller) for a number of years, but it is not reliable and unpredictable results.
 
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