I have toyed with the idea of a longer tiller as well. I guess rather than Connie's solution, I would prefer a solid tiller, with a relocated fixture for the tiller extender, which also for me solves the weird angle problem with the short tiller and the extension deployed. And I hear you about two fingered steering. Which leads me to my main question... My M15 develops a good deal of weather helm in brisk winds. I steered Larry Yake's M17 last weekend, and his helm feels almost neutral, although the boat comes up nicely when you release the tiller. It's possible I've raked the mast too much, so I'm going to fuss with that this weekend, but I'd be interested in other M15 owner's experience in this area On the other hand, a longer tiller is going to add mechanical advantage, which doesn't solve the problem but treats the symptom. Then again, maybe I need to reef earlier... Tom Smith and Jane Van Winkle M15/345 -- Chukar Sandpoint, Idaho -----Original Message----- From: Conbert H Benneck [mailto:chbenneck@juno.com] Sent: Friday, July 26, 2002 7:33 AM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: M_Boats: Tiller extension Hi John, I too, like to sit at the forward end of the M15 cockpit and find that the tiller is too short for comfort. Using the Forespar tiller extender, is a partial solution, but the angles of tiller extension to tiller itself are wrong. Yesterday, I was out sailing and came up with a mock-up of the tiller so that I could check on just how long it had to be for comfortable single-handed sailing. What I did was to lash the Forespare Tiller Extension to the tiller itself, using a bungee cord. Now I could extend the tiller extension, and play games as to length desired for comfortable sailing. I was surprised to find that what I really wanted was a tiller about 54 inches long, and with an upwards curve, maybe about 3 inches higher than where the current tiller lies. My thought is to make myself a long wedge-shaped block to sit on the top of the tiller, into which the Forespar tiller extension fits and is fastened in place with a bungee cord. Now as a lash-up, you have the best of all worlds: the length you want, and you can also play with the height by varying the angle of the wedge block. My first attempt at this was such a resounding success, I'm going out to play with the idea some more this afternoon. There is another subtle benefit to this set-up. With the much longer tiller, it is two finger sailing, and rudder delections are very much smaller because of the added tiller length. Happy sailing Connie M15 #400 LEPPO _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats