tillermate any good?

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silverdawn

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Hi Went to LBS thursday looked at the nice new tiller pilots trouble was i needed a 2000 model £325/280 no better deals cant afford this at present so will have to go down market and was thinking more of tiller aid? has anyone used tillermate around £50, consist of thumbscrew type wheel fitted to the tiller with rope threaded through and fixed port/starboard within the cockpit.
I know this isnt a pilot but i assume it would give me time to hold course and leave the helm for brief periods , do these work if so how effective are they, plese post and tell me.
Regards stuart gibbons.
 
Its a RIDICULOUS price when you could easily knock something up.

I have found a rope to a cleat on the windward side works quite well in similar sized boat especially if a bit of shock cord to the leeward side is added as well.

I reckon though that my Autohelm, now over 25 years old, was the best bit of kit I ever bought. The newer ones are much better (more intelligent) and I would not hesitate to replace it with a new one if it failed
 
I have a Tiller Mate but eventually I invested in an Autohelm. The Tiller mate can hold your tiller central but it can't steer a course. In any kind of seaway, if your are knocked off course by a wave you will just continue on the new course. Found it very frustrating trying to hoist sails when single handed as the boat gradually paid off to leeward as a result of being pushed round by the waves!
 
I agree with VicS. It's incredibly expensive for what it is.

I think the answer to your question is that it depends on your boat. A well balanced, long keeled boat is more likely to benefit from a device like this than a light skittish fin keeled boat.

You can try tying your tiller with some cord. If it stays on course then the tillermate would work. If you can't hold her on course with the cord them the tillermate won't work.

It wouldn't work on my boat, but even if it did I would be looking for something cheaper!
 
Still silly money to pay for something not necessary IMHO. I thought £50 was a bit steep.

Blatent advertising definitely not allowed but put a link to these forums on your website and a blind eye is usually turned. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Fancy the bins and maybe the bucket. What discount do you offer Forum members?
 
Probably, but if you said 40% I 'm sure that there would be no objections. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
i have had a tillerhand this season. how long your boat will hold a course depends on how well balanced she is.

If you can make her sail herself with the tiller lashed with a bit of rope then obviously it will look smarter and be more convenient with a tiller hand or tillermate.

For going below to cook or whatever I usualy put a bit of shock cord on the leeward side of the tiller and a light line up to windward led outside the guard rails then into a cleat next to the companionway. This allows me to adjust the helm from inside the cabin.i have a small compass in the cabin so I can see we are roughly on course.
 
For a bit of rope and a locking mechanism .... seems expensive.

Also remember that it takes no account of boat heeling / moving as YOU move about .... so as you change position on boat etc. the boat goes of course and stays of course.
You are raising sail - boat has change of driving forces and centres of force / pressure .... Tillermate says Tiller stay there ... boat goes off course ... you falffing around at mast get into all sorts of problems ....

Suggest you look at little more for a reasonable secondhand Tillerpilot. I paid not much more through private ad for a AH1000 + remote controller .... Now that is well worth it !

On a prevuous boat I tried the PBO Sketch book ways ... timber rail with pegs to lock tiller .... worked, cost about £2 to do .... Another try was the bight of rope and eye formed in centre to drop over tiller and then jamming cleats at side ... worked, cost around £4 ..... Both of these allowed setting tiller at varying levels of helm ....

If you are set on course sails up, timmed and boat is well balanced .... OK - Tillermate will assist you until a wave or wash catches the bow / stern .... It's best use is when you are in the cockpit and want to open your beer ..... but £50 notes ????????
 
thanks everone for your advice and ideas regarding the tiller aid, the boats displacement is 3250Kgs and raymarine and simrad told me the tiller pilot 1000 model would be working at full capacity, therefore the 2000 model was recommended.
It would appear from your comments that i can try various methods without wasting £50 pounds.
 
I am about to buy an auto tiller pilot and I thought the joined up opinion was that the Simrad TP10 was poor and the autohelm 1000 was the best to get for a 25ft yacht. Without checking, has the Automhelm 1000 got a GPS interface facility while the Simrad TP10 has not?
 
Tillerpilots ....

I have 2 TP 's .... AH800 and a AH1000 ............. and to be perfectly frank and honest - they both work same without discernible difference on a heavy 25ft Motor Sailer ....

Now the blurb says that as a heavy boat - I should use at minimum the AH 1000 .... but honest the 800 does same !! I'm sure that there is a difference in construction etc. - but in use ????

The only thing that would make me think about buying as recc'd in size - is if it doesn't work or fails - the warranty may be affected if you are using one "supposedly" for smaller / lighter boat .... ?????
 
Top left corner of your log-in page- click 'options' then you will see a private Message page N = new message and then you can open and if you wish reply
 
i have one on my grampian 26. find it very useful when have to leave the tiller for a few minutes. its always attached but just slackened off or tightened up, use it when motoring or sailing. however in canada cost is only about 14 pounds.
 
I used one for a long time and really liked it. Of course it is not an autopilot and never will be, but I would often sail with it set with just enough friction so you could move the tiller by hand but when released it stayed where it was. You cant easily do that with just a rope to cleat and it makes it possible to make really fine adjustments until the whole thing is in balance and it will hold a course for many minutes on end. It was never left unattended for more than a few minutes, but it does encourage you to get the sail trim right. I often used it for long passages under sail rather than the autohelm which quickly drained the battery.
 
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