Tillerhand/Tiller-mate

excellent kit.. ask salty john! They are invaluble when short handed, will dampen the tiller movement or lock it, depending on conditions and boat balance allows enough control to leave the helm for shortih periods to sheet etc. easy to fit and use. Always fitted to evry boat in the Smeaks flottila!

just my opinion
 
So if restoring the power to 12v does not kick start the autohelm, I'm better getting one of these than shelling out for an new tiller-pilot for single handed passages?
 
I prefer to tie the tiller off with bungy cord so you can still steer if you need to such as if she rounds up a bit in a gust.
 
Very expensive for what they do IMHO.
but £18 for the Tiller-hand is not as bad as £28 for the Tiller trimmer

I have always managed with a length of rope.
 
Yes, that's why the Tiller-Hand has adjustable tension - you apply just enough to hold the tiller in the prevailing conditions but you can still steer when needed, or you can nudge the tiller from time to time to adjust course. In a big gust the tendency to head up will overcome the Tiller-Hand tension and round she goes.
Even if you lock it down solid it takes only a second to unscrew the control knob a turn or two and you're back in control.
 
I had one for a while trouble I found is that once you have moved the tiller it needs fine tuning again to get the boat to sail itself.The bungee just goes back to the same spot.

I suppose you could attatch the line that the tiller mate clamps to with a bit of bungee at each end to allow some steering.
 
I've been using one for a while - can't remember the name of which one it is! - and find I tend to use it if I'm just going to nip forward or down below when I find turning the little wheel a bit awkward. I've got it fixed under the tiller. I think, for me, an instant handle type would be better .. less fiddly. Boat pretty much steers herself anyway on most points but I still use it!
 
A chap I met in Portugal made me a copy of one he had been using for a while. Consisted of stainless steel chain about 15ins long with bungee at each end which were then taken back to cockpit coaming cleats under stress. A link of chain under slight pressure then looped onto a pin thru the tiller - simple inexpensive and effective, didn't cost a penny - made him a cup of chai while he made it - then singlehanded all the way back to UK with it - magic
 
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Has anyone tried one of these?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TILLER-HAND-Tiller...A1%7C240%3A1318

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Yes, and didnt like it much. It does the job, but is difficult to fine adjust, and fiddly to lock or unlock.

An altogether better bit of kit is the Midshipman by Seasure.
It does the same thing as the Tillermate, but has a control lever which can be flicked on and off without letting go the tiller, allowing much more precise control.

Wouldnt touch a Tillermate, and wouldn't be without my Midshipman now.

http://www.mailspeedmarine.com/general-chandlery/midshipman-ii-steering-lock658225.bhtml
 
Hi John

I have a tillermate which I bought because it stated it could be used underneath the tiller. I don't like it very much because it tends to tighten up during normal use which is rather annoying. As the knob underneath is fiddly, it can't be adjusted particularly quickly, so I tend to release the whole thing by pulling the control line up out of the camcleat. Which rather defeats the object.

The tillerhand looks better and much cheaper. But can it be used underneath the tiller?
 
I find a piece 8 mm elastic stretched between the two rear mooring cleats works very well, simply wind a couple of turns round the tiller handel when you need it, more turns if you want to fix the tiller more firmly.
 
We manufacture the Tiller-Hand and the Tiller Trimmer. They differ fundementally in design from the Tillermate. Only in the broadest sense, they clamp a line that controls the movement of the tiller, can they be considered similar.
 
OK: judge for yourselves, people:

Tiller Trimmer: http://www.tillertrimmer.com/

Tiller hand: http://www.saltyjohn.co.uk/tillerhand.htm

Tillermate: http://www.tillermate.com/introduction.htm

Midshipman: http://www.mailspeedmarine.com/general-chandlery/midshipman-ii-steering-lock658225.bhtml

OK midshipman is more expensive (but can be discounted £8- £10 less than mailspeed), but is altogether better at the job IMHO, if only because it can be released in an emergency at the flick of a finger.
 
Are you trying to ignite a tiller-thingy war?!

The midshipman is a nice piece of kit. It's a tiller lock. It's on or off. There's a very nice Canadian tiller lock, all brass and stainless that also looks a nice bit of kit - I think it might be called a 'Windjammer' but I might be wrong on that.

Our products, the American Davis tiller tamer and the Tillermate are tiller controllers in that they offer variable tension on the control line. In normal use the tension is set so that you can move the tiller by hand, or nudge it an inch or so to correct course, but the normal force of water on the rudder won't move it. The facility to lock it solid also exists, and a couple of twists on the knob fully releases it.
I only mention these things to make the distinction between a tiller lock and a tiller controller, not promote our specific tiller controllers.
 
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