I'm curious how many folks, if any, use bungees to center their tiller - ie, if they need both hands to crank on DH or hoist/drop sip, etc. I've used them when I sailed dinghy's and they worked great. Also, if you don't use them, why not? They don't seem to be very common on cats for some reason.
Jerry
Jerry
I don't because If I fall off the boat, I do not want it to just sail away from me.
Most 1/2 boats will just fall over. Cats will not.
IMO not a good plan at all.......
I put bungees on my Hobie Wave, but I use them to hold the tiller to one side or the other when the boat is parked, so I don't have to hold the tiller over manually. I never thought about using them to center the tiller while sailing, but now that I think about it, that's a great idea for going downwind, because then I can get farther forward and keep the mast rotated. Shhhh, don't tell the other Wave sailors.
Scooby,
That's an interesting point and well worth considering. But it does raise a few questions:
1) If you fall off without bungees on your tiller, how certain can you be that it will capize, and how quickly?
2) In what winds will this happen (ie, you could slip and fall off in 5-10 and it's very possible the boat may not capsize)?
3) If you do fall off, what are the odds you're not holding the mainsheet or tiller, and if you were holding either of them, wouldn't that capsize the boat even if there were bungees on the tiller?
4) It's not clear that a boat with bungees but no crew would sail off and not capsize; might depend on wind strength, what's cleated, etc?
5) It might depend on how strong the bungees were as to if or when a boat with bungees would capsize?
6) Even if a boat with no bungees on the tiller did capsize 30 feet from where you fell off, in any amount of wind, it could drift sideways away from you faster than you could swim to it?
Just some thoughts for discussion...
Anyone else try them?
I used them last season on my H17 and they worked fine, though I confess I never fell off. The boat did have enough weather helm (mild) that when I let go it would eventually head up into irons (even with bungess on the tiller).
Jerry
....which is all great untill an unexpected gust hits. Because of the really crappy tiller angle you can't bear away and **splash** - 'cmon... we have all done it 
That's an interesting point and well worth considering. But it does raise a few questions:
1) If you fall off without bungees on your tiller, how certain can you be that it will capize, and how quickly?
2) In what winds will this happen (ie, you could slip and fall off in 5-10 and it's very possible the boat may not capsize)?
3) If you do fall off, what are the odds you're not holding the mainsheet or tiller, and if you were holding either of them, wouldn't that capsize the boat even if there were bungees on the tiller?
4) It's not clear that a boat with bungees but no crew would sail off and not capsize; might depend on wind strength, what's cleated, etc?
5) It might depend on how strong the bungees were as to if or when a boat with bungees would capsize?
6) Even if a boat with no bungees on the tiller did capsize 30 feet from where you fell off, in any amount of wind, it could drift sideways away from you faster than you could swim to it?
Just some thoughts for discussion...
Anyone else try them?
I used them last season on my H17 and they worked fine, though I confess I never fell off. The boat did have enough weather helm (mild) that when I let go it would eventually head up into irons (even with bungess on the tiller).
Jerry
I'm not expecting my boat to sail away, I expect it to stop where it is, just gently round up and park a short distance away from me (hopefully).
If it is V windy, then yes it may well just fall over. But the last thing I want is for it to sail away !
The crux of my point is that a catamaran is less likely to capsize than a Monohull (and so the cat is more likley to sail away) and so it's not a good idea to encourage a cat to sail away from you by having the rudders centre themselves.
....which is all great untill an unexpected gust hits. Because of the really crappy tiller angle you can't bear away and **splash** - 'cmon... we have all done it
Why would you want to bear away in a big gust if you are parked?
You would (I assume) be somewhere between 70 and 0 (to the wind) and so the last thing you want to do is bear away in a gust and put more wind in the sails 
....which is all great untill an unexpected gust hits. Because of the really crappy tiller angle you can't bear away and **splash** - 'cmon... we have all done it
Why would you want to bear away in a big gust if you are parked?
You would (I assume) be somewhere between 70 and 0 (to the wind) and so the last thing you want to do is bear away in a gust and put more wind in the sails
[Does not read - great idea for going downwind]
Ooops..... It is late this side of the pond......
I think it is dangerous. Why take a chance on the boat sailing away if you fall off ? Why not just put the tiller under your butt or leg ? Rather loose a little speed in not sheeting fast enough than having the boat sail way from me!!
Just my opinion.
Doug Snell
Hobie 17
www.tcdyc.com
#1, the Wave sails the leeward legs straight downwind, so if a gust comes in from the aft leeward quarter, it would be a matter of heading up a little rather than down, just to prevent an accidental jibe.
#2, I would not even think of bungeeing the tiller to center except in fairly light air.
#3, Wave racing is very tight, so in the million-to-one chance that I might fall off the boat going downwind in light air, there would always be boats within a minute of me to rescue me and rein in my runaway buckboard
#4, the reason it sounds like a great idea to me is that some of us women Wave sailors are at a disadvantage going downwind. Mechanical methods of positive mast rotation are not allowed, but apparently human methods are. Most of the men are able to lie down on the tramp and hold the tiller with one hand and rotate the mast with a foot. Not fair, because we can't reach!!
So far there is no rule about using mechanical means to control the tiller, so since apparently all is fair in love and war (most of us are racing against our husbands), tiller bungees would allow us short people to get forward and manually rotate the mast.
I hope this clarifies it. I realize most of you do not sail such simplistic boats. 
Jerry,
I have a setup that has a bungee to centre my steering, it's attached to the cross arm.
The tension in the spinnaker pull up/pull down line tensions the bungee and holds the boat on course.
Basically only works when I'm single handing and the spinnaker is in the process of going up or down.
So my two hands pulling on the halyard also indirectly keep the boat on course.
If the spinnaker is not in the process of being pulled up or down ie. normal manouvering the bunger is quite lose and has no influence on the steering of the boat.
As far as the debate about catching your boat if you fall off. Ever tried it? Unless the mast has anchoured the boat by sticking in the mud I have never really been that quick a swimmer. If there is enough wind to cause a capsize, even on there side, they drift faster than I will ever be able to swim.
Anyhow in the event of falling off the bungee system I have has no influence on the steering at all and the rudders a free to do what ever they want to.
Regards,
Phill
Has anyone ever considered a surfing strap, to secure themselves to the boat?
or am I just LOCO?
You would (I assume) be somewhere between 70 and 0 (to the wind) and so the last thing you want to do is bear away in a gust and put more wind in the sails
I was talking about sailing down wind. It was supposed to be a little light hearted laugh at ourselves. 
Tiger Mike
or am I just LOCO?
I think you must be just LOCO 
(What is LOCO anyway??)
A surfing strap could be extremely dangerous. Having had a couple of un-planned water ski's behind my boat going down wind with the mainsheet wrapped around my ankle, I can tell you from first hand experience, you tend to go DOWN rather than UP 
. In one case I was able to pull my foot free and the other the boat capsised before anything bad happened but one thing is for sure, I don't want to do it again!
Tiger Mike
Jerry
Firstly, on a one man boat, if you fall off ie trap line snaps, you should always have hold of a sheet. Keep hold and the boat will capsize.
I think the bungy sugestion has quiet a lot of merit.
[ (What is LOCO anyway??)
Not sure, but I think it's that guy hiding inside my mirror 
There is quite an elaborate set-up for cruising monohulls; generally it attaches the jib to the tiller. It uses a combination of bungees, blocks and small line. It requires relatively high quality component to work, because it is easily defeated by internal friction.
An archaic device called a "handy billy" might well be adapted to this purpose.
btw- when I single handed a H16, I NEVER put down the mainsheet! Learned that the hard way! When I was knocked down, my reflex was to maintain a death grip on the main sheet!
The tension in the spinnaker pull up/pull down line tensions the bungee and holds the boat on course.
Hi Phill,
I was thinking of constructing something similar, do you have a diagram or picture of your setup?
Thx.
I'm with Mary.
I use it all the time to bring the rudders to one side so the boat is always parked into the wind. Nice, quiet summer days and we go swimming! I usually throw a sheet over so I can stay with the boat.
Wyatt
Mary,
There is another potential solution to your problem. Remember, I don't have original ideas. I just steal others and usually make them better, but that is a matter of opinion. On our last boat, n6.0, the previous owner was/is a rigger for Hall Spars and he is an original thinker. He took four small micro blocks; plastic tied them to the beams near the hulls in each of the four corners. Ran a very thin, high-tech line thru the blocks and tied both ends in the center of the cross bar. When on the water, place the tiller extension on the cross bar, move to the front beam, reach just under the front beam and you use the line like a wheel. The one improvement I would have made to this is to cross the line somewhere near the back, so that the line would steer like a tiller instead of a wheel. There is some loss of “feel” with this system and it is about it only drawback.
Having this system can have an effect on your competitors. An A classer who was immediately behind us one evening notice that both of us were sitting in front of the front beam and the tiller was lying on the cross bar. “How are you guys steering that beast?” Our most honest answer was of course: “How else, with crew weight positioning and sail trim!” He jibed away. It wasn’t Lucky Duck, he would have seen thru our ruse.
Crude drawing:
Solid Blue line was the way it was setup; Dashed Blue is the way I would have changed it. Red circles are the micro blocks.
Once I figure out how to attach a simple word drawing, I'll attach it.
No drawing?
Maybe I'm lazy or just have my rudders set wrong, but I only have slight windward helm upwind, and almost neutral off the wind.
In light winds, I have left the tiller unattended for up to a minute and it tracked straight. Only when big changes in sail trim were made did it turn the boat.
I also stick it under my leg in big air when yanking on downhaul or helping set the spin.
Having been washed off (or fallen off) more times than I'd like to admit (trap line breaks, wave washes crew off, etc.), I'll side with the previous poster that I try to maintain a deathgrip on the mainsheet or some other part of the boat. These things move too fast to become detached for any length of time. Just by hanging on and dragging in the water should eventually make the boat round up or flip over.
I'm phobic and deadly serious about this! If I MUST use both hands, I hold the sheet in my teeth!
On the lightest and most idyllic days, I often lay the sheet across a bare leg, but only with all the slack worked out. If my reaction time to releasing the mainsheet is greater than my reaction time for braking my car, I consider the boat out of control.
I have been thinking about this also for sometime but I agree it can and would be dangerous for the reasons below.
1. You fall off - boat sails away, maybe/probably.
2. You tether yourself to the boat with a line - you get dragged and potentially drowned in the process.
I am thinking of somehow engineering the tiller so that if its 5 to 10 degrees above the deck, ie held in your hand, it locks some sort of friction mechanism. If you fall off the tiller returns to the deck due to gravity and unlocks or puts your rudders in a slight turn....
Sorry, I'm a design engineer and can't stop the brain...
Now I can't see any simple way of doing this yet but I will tinker away. Any thoughts on this idea???
Don't know if this will help:
http:/
The ignition key for my outboard has a spring line that is (supposed to be)attached to my vest.
I forgot to mention an important point with this type of device, that you only need to cup the tiller in your arm to lock it and therefore leaving both hands free for main sheet, or whatever you wish to do with them.
I have an idea which I will draw up and post sometime next week.
The only problem with this is if the line gets tangled around anything at all you could get dragged out to sea... There are alot more rods, brackets and ropes etc for a life line to tangle on a cat.
http:/
The ignition key for my outboard has a spring line that is (supposed to be)attached to my vest.
Dammit, I'm really tired... sorry.
The only problem with this is if the line gets tangled around anything at all you could get dragged out to sea... There are alot more rods, brackets and ropes etc for a life line to tangle on a cat.
I really like the idea of "extending" the tiller to the front cross bar. Even for us non-racers it would be very convienient. And it is mostly hidden under the tramp and out of the way. The best part is it is simple and easy to rig.
diagram