On 11/17/2016 5:34 PM, John Schinnerer wrote: Hi John, M-boat owners, with transom hung rudders have it easy. Add a small trim tab to the aft end of the rudder whose position you can control with a small wind vane, and you are well on your way to having a successful autopilot for the boat. If you have a keel hung rudder, as I did, then your only input to the rudder is via the tiller. That make it a bit more difficult. Sheet-to-tiller is still the least fussy and quickest set up for a 25 mile trip; if you are crossing an ocean, then you have more complex problems to confront. Connie
PS - and the whole book is available per chapter, for personal use only by permission of author: http://www.jesterinfo.org/selfsteeringforsailingcraft.html
cheers, John S.
On 11/17/2016 03:32 PM, John Schinnerer wrote:
Here's a PDF I found of the most relevant chapter in Letcher's book: http://www.jesterinfo.org/selfsteeringforsailingcraftjohnletcher/Self-Steeri...
After the basics of his experiments & resulting systems he goes into setups for long downwind passages for several pages (twin mains, etc.) - but then in the last few pages he summarizes very well around the basics again, so plow through or skip over the exotic downwind passage rigs and don't miss the summary at the end.
cheers, John S.
On 11/17/2016 03:26 PM, GILASAILR--- via montgomery_boats wrote: