Rich, You know sailors are never satisfied with the status quo. I want the best of all worlds. I want the long tiller for single handed sailing, so I can sit forward in the cockpit; but I want the flexibility of having the shorter tiller if I sail with the grandchildren, and more people are in the cockpit. But I am still mulling over a means of raising the tiller to a vertical position to clear the whole cockpit, for lunching; happy hour; or to be able to freely move about. However, I am not about to give up the nice "raise and lower the rudder blade" capability using the tiller. That's the rub. How to combine a tiller that can be raised, but in the down position is locked and which doesn't add any slop to the tiller. I am considering a hinge as a possible solution with a barrel bolt to lock it in the operating position. When I want the tiller out of the way, slide the barrel bolt to the "open" position, raise the tiller and you have the best of both worlds: a rigid tiller for sailing and for controlling the rudder's up's and down's; and a bendable tiller for clearing the cockpit.............. It's still a thought process: nothing has been cut or modified - yet! Connie