What size solar panel/panels for a single handed sailing.

[Buck Turgidson]

RE;I use a Ray marine ST 2000 tiller pilot, I tend to use it rather than being stuck to the tiller, I balance the sails as best as I can to keep power usage down.

Tillerpilots are great when motoring , but to save on tillerpilot power usage you can you can use a wind vane (expensive) or sheet to tiller steering.
It takes a bit of fiddling , but proven.

There are much better videos than this one on sheet to tiller. This chap has the jib sheet pulling the wrong side of the tiller.

 

[garymalmgren]

There are much better videos than this one on sheet to tiller. This chap has the jib sheet pulling the wrong side of the tiller.

Your are right about the better video, Buck.
I found one. But this chap has the sheet tied to the weather side of the tiller too. Seems to work though.
Gary

 

[Buck Turgidson]

There are much better videos than this one on sheet to tiller. This chap has the jib sheet pulling the wrong side of the tiller.

Your are right about the better video, Buck.
I found one. But this chap has the sheet tied to the weather side of the tiller too. Seems to work though.
Gary

guess it works for them. For me this would steer me the wrong way unless I completely luffed the Genoa.
Upwind I want the tiller fixed or balanced only with a bungee and let the mainsail trim steer the course. Iff I fall off, the main powers up and turns me to windward if I head up it luffs and I fall off. When set correctly the boat stabilises on a fixed apparent wind angle which changes slightly in the gusts but self corrects.
I've sailed days like this.

 

[B27]

I think what the OP wanted to know was how much power at tiller pilot will use on average and how much panel power is needed to keep up with that?

Unfortunately, I think both numbers are quite variable.

Wind strength, seas state and point of sail will make a big difference?
It will vary from boat to boat, according to sail balance and rudder design.
Also you may be able to adjust settings on the tiller pilot to save power by increasing the dead-band and slowing the response?

I'm sure I've never got the best out of mine, it makes unnecessary fidgetty movements sometimes.
On a broad reach, I can put it on standby and just leave it locking the helm for minutes on end, without going seriously off course, even when it's reasonably wavy.

I had a look at the pypilot DIY autopilot website,
https://pypilot.org/faq/

Average power needed?

"There is no definite answer because it depends on the boat, rudder, sea state, and conditions. Typical values for tiller-steered boats range from 1-3 watts (average) in light conditions to 5-6 watts in larger waves. For larger boats (50ft) with hydraulics, the power ranges from 10-15 watts up to 50-60 watts in stronger conditions."

This sounds low to me, but I have no proper data.

 

[Allan]

We sail a Starlight 35 as a couple. We have a windvane so we we don't use the autohelm but we do have a fridge. In the past we've had two 50w semi flexible panels and needed to run the engine occasionally. We now fix four solid 50w panels, wired in two pairs, to the coach roof. So far this set-up has not required any topping up. The batteries are 3 x 110Ahr plus a start battery. I hope this is some help to the OP.
My guess would be that we use an average of a little under 100w possibly a little more in hotter climates due to the fridge.
Allan