Forums, Engine, Gearbox, Stern Gear, etc, Tiller Play

garethd at 10/08/2015 12:34:42

The tiller on my CO 32 has developed about 6"; of ‘play’ before becoming effective. It feels quite loose and, before taking anything apart I wondered if there is any obvious answer. The tiller itself is fixed quite firmly to the block at its base but it is difficult to find any more without taking things apart. Any ideas. GD

George Isted at 10/08/2015 15:45:59
Hi Gareth,
Did this come-on all of a sudden or has is gradually become worse?

If you are lucky it could just be that the key in the top taper is worn.

Unfortunately, I suspect that the tangs that are welded to the rudder stock have failed inside the rudder. This is allowing the rudder stock to rotate inside the rudder moulding. What’s left of the weld could be all that’s allowing you to steer.

If can be fixed but it requires cutting away the GRP around the tangs and then getting it welded before repairing. Or you can buy a replacement rudder from Rogers Yachts.

I suggest you investigate ASAP!

CO923 at 13/12/2015 19:13:45
Hi Gareth

This is probably far too late for you, but we had a similar problem with play in the tiller on ours (CO923, Peak Flow, late 1990’s build). There was a much simpler cause, and a much simpler solution. The previous owner had regularly had to tighten up the tiller. Glen, one of my co-owners, is a dinghy sailor and was completely intolerant of having to do this!

The problem was, on our boat anyway the tiller is held on by a quite large hex bolt, and there was just a plain washer between the bolt and the bit of the tiller it was holding on to the rudder post. This meant that every time you pulled the tiller to port, you were tending to undo the bolt; there was no corresponding tightening process when you pushed there tiller to starboard, so it got loose over time. We fixed the problem by putting an O-ring and an extra washer under the head of the bolt. This increases the “pre-load” on the bolt a lot, and reduces the friction slightly, so that the bolt stays tight. I don’t think we have had to tighten it since, and there’s no longer any play in the tiller.

I hope this helps.

Best regards

Hillary

(Mr) Hillary Sillitto, Edinburgh

CO923 at 13/12/2015 19:15:26
I’ve just re-read your original post and I see that since “the tiller itself is quite firmly fixed to the block at tits base”, this probably isn’t the solution in your case.

moongirl at 15/12/2015 21:45:11
Again probably too late but have a look at my drawing on the Website. It shows the rudder stock with welded on tangs. On older boats the tangs were in a foam that was not closed cell & prone to turning to mush – I test the rudders by drilling say a 6mm hole in the toe of the blade & if water & mush come out that often signals the demise of the foam! On some boats it has been possible to chop out the glass in the vicinity of the tangs & re-glassing but it’s also possible that the tang welds have gone & that normally demands a new rudder.

Richard Ritchie at 16/12/2015 09:06:35
One further option:
The nut tightens down the bronze tiller block over a cone at the top of the rudder post. If you have allowed wear (or thekey has worn away) , then a step develops in the bronze head and no amount of tightening will actually make it grip. Robin Sims now has a reamer made up for this, and mine has never moved since.
But yours sounds like much too much movement for this simple solution.