Ways to reduce steerage play?

[BoarX]

Hello all,

Having recently (finally) started sailing our T28, I noticed quite significant play in the steering linkage. Of course coming from racing dinghies with direct connection between tiller and the rudder, my expectations were not very high, but still... I am already working on reducing play in the tiller handle to shaft connection, but I also see a lot of play in the links inside fuel tank locker. This is not just for my convenience as I am not planning to race our boat, but it is not clear to me how the autopilot will handle such play - for one thing it should oscillate a lot. Maybe I should look closely, but so far I don't see any adjustments in the joints between the links to compensate for the play. Is there an established way to at least reduce if not fully eliminate the problem? And yes, I have seen at least one photo of T28 with the tiller attached directly to the rudder shaft, but for the moment I am not ready for something that radical.

Thanks in advance,
Alex

[Tri’d n Sail’d]

I also had a lot of play when I picked mine up last year. My problem was the pin that goes through the tiller shaft was not tight enough. Make sure that the pin is tapered to allow initial alignment and ability to get through but large enough for a very tight fit. There will still be a lot of play in the linkage below, but that seems to be okay. My auto tiller works great with it.

[BoarX]

OK, thanks so much Jim!! Have you got a custom pin manufactured? Mine is tapered, gets in with some nudging, but tends to slide out after some time due to engine vibrations. Do you use any sort of retainer for your pin? If it wouldn't be asking too much, could you please measure the diameter of non-tapered portion of your pin with a caliper?

Thanks in advance,
Alex