Wow Gary. I am more and more nonplussed by popular YouTubers. It is confusing as to cost but in one instance they say 10 grand, probably 15 AUD, for a tiller.

But they probably make that doing the videos on the tiller so all good for them, but carbon, really? Why?

Some nice laminations and epoxy can be done for 200 AUD.

What the Uma people may find is that tillers suck on yachts going down hill, because you have to push as much as pull. There is a good reason boats over 32 feet have wheels. I had a tiller on my cat for over a decade. Eventually I tired of having a sore back and installed a wheel. I made my own composite parts, no carbon, for beer money and fell in love with the wheel after about 15 seconds of use.

One problem they will have is using the long tiller in slop. There is no way they will have enough angle to steer straight.

Anyway, no one really uses a helm much when offshore so where the autopilot and wind vane go are the critical jobs.

Axe handle. Bunnings $44

Well it seems we each pick up something different from these youtube vids.
Their design concept was to clear the cockpit as much as they could, but still have all the steering aids( wind vane, autopilot, tiller extension).
So, I though that the completed design met all of those requirements quite well.
iIdon't really need that gear though, because my cockpit is ALWAYS ship shape and Bristol fashion
gary

I was thinking about their amazing hideaway tiller extension. It really may be a bit of a pain. One of the things many people do is to helm with the tiller extension, quickly place it on top of the tiller to tack or gybe (especially if there are others in the cockpit) and then jump onto the new windward side with the extension. That's why the normal design works well - it is so quick to pop onto the tiller.

I like learning stuff from Youtubers but these guys make money from stuffing up, or spending more money than a normal person can justify. For most other Youtubers, they must have an alloy expedition catamaran. Then there is the Physics lecturer building an electric cat that will cost millions. It is so huge she will lose family members for days.

The amount of money these guys blow through is an order of magnitude greater than me, and I am not poor. So watching rich people flaunt their ability to waste money on stupid carbon stuff sits badly with me. Spirit XL and Fantasia are good to watch, real people who don't monetise their content, even if the boats are big. Low cost sailor is always worth a watch.

A big gripe is with the carbon tubes in the video. Now if you do want carbon tubes, or glass tubes, then you can use windsurfer masts. My foam/glass hard top I am making at present is made from foam and E glass. I looked into carbon tubes to hold it up and choked when I got prices and then worked out I could use old windsurfer masts as struts. I have done this before and it saves thousands.

I always find Dominic Tarr a great alternative to cashed up YT creators.

This isn’t one of his better episodes but he has big balls doing his passages on what I perceive is not safe leaving the bay. It’s great for reminding me to just get out there and do it.



Also, Free Range Sailing are back afloat on a 44fter. They could also be good for practical sailing.