Tiller extension

Sylvan Sunfish

New Member
After many years of building street rods and drag cars, I found a new passion that is a whole lot quieter...and love it. A good friend of the family is getting ready to retire and offered up his 2 sail boats to us; he is not so physically able anymore and wanted us to have them. So in the end we got the Snark and Sunfish, on trailer, for free. Having never sailed before and thinking it was easier than it really is, my wife and I ended up turtle a couple of times on our first outing. After a couple of quick lessons on You Tube, we have it down. Wow, this is fun. With the help of APS, we replaced all the lines on both boats, replaced the traveler and installed a Harken block/spring kit on the Sunfish. I also cut out the original bailer and installed a new one that the previous owner gave us. I need to replace the sail but will probably wait until next year when we are a little more competent. But first, I do want to replace the tiller handle or just add an extension to the existing handle. Recommendations? I want something that will reach up more in the cockpit and will be easier to hang on to when switching sides. The existing handle is pretty short compared to other photos I've seen of Sunfish. I'm not too worried about cost, after all, this was all free to start with. :)
 

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I like having a high quality adjustable length tiller extension so that I can not only fine tune it lengthwise while I'm sailing but also so that I can extend it all the way so I can still steer when I'm way forward of the cockpit messing with lines and other gear.

Here's an earlier post I did on tiller extensions.

And here's how you attach your tiller extension to your existing wooden tiller that came with your boat.

Cheers,

- Andy
 
I think I will like the adjustability of this model. All on order.
Hi Jon,

As I said in one of my posts, they are quite expensive. But here's another example of their utility. I recently taught a friend to sail. He had never sailed before. After using my Sunfish for a while, he bought his own Sunfish. Then, after using the wooden tiller extension that came with his Sunfish I let him use my fully adjustable Battlestick. He liked it so much he immediately ordered one for his Sunfish.

More recently, my friend bought a Laser and is now sailing that boat exclusively. His Laser came with a very nice 48 inch long tiller extension. But it was one piece and didn't telescope down or extend. After sailing for a while with the original tiller extension that came with his Laser, he swapped it out... replacing it with his Battlestick extension and has been using the Battlestick ever since.

He's now about to put his Sunfish up for sale. And he's selling his Sunfish with... a nice, one piece, 48 inch extension. The one that came with his Laser when he bought it! :cool:

Best,

- Andy
 
That could be my story if my wife has anything to do with it...she is already looking at Lasers. I'm kind of fond of the Laser 15...since it easily seats 2.
 
The Battlestick came with the appropriate adapter to tie to the tiller. Outstanding! Not bad for $95 from APS. I'll keep the extra adapter for a spare down the road. Time to head to the lake to install.
 

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