tiller pilot

[Birdseye]

Got myself a Sadler 290 which has a tiller operating directly on the rudder shaft. I dont like the Raymarine tiller pilot that the boat has and wondering is it is possible to fit a decent hydraulic system under the deck. I suppose I am looking for someone who has done this on a similar boat. Anyone there?

 

[KompetentKrew]

From these pics it doesn't look like it has a quadrant. From the layout of the cockpit and photo of the aft cabin it looks like the rudder shaft runs through a pipe at the foot of that berth.

My tiller-steered boat is similar, and I couldn't see an easy way to do it.

May I ask what Raymarine tiller pilot you have at present?

 

[Tranona]

Think the answer is no because you don't have access to a clear bit of exposed rudder stock to mount an arm. Some more recent boats with tiller steering from the same designer do have steering arrangements such that you can install a below decks autopilot in the same way as a wheel steered boat.

Afraid you are stuck with a ram operating directly on the tiller, either an all in one ST2000 or Simrad TP32, or the much more sophisticated and expensive EV100 tiller pilot which uses the electronics from the wheel steered systems but with a ram operating on the tiller. This is more than powerful enough for your boat, but is less satisfactory than the equivalent under deck ram because it does not have a clutch so needs to be attached when needed and of course the ram is exposed. Otherwise functionally in terms of features and integration with the rest of your system it is the same. Not cheap though at nearly 3 times the price of an ST2000.

Choice depends on your expectations.