Ways to reduce steerage play?
Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2019 8:34 pm
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
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