Laser Dinghy Products

 
  • Pro Graphite Tiller
  • Nitestick Tiller Extension
  • Wear Rite Disks

Carbon Fibre Tiller Comparison

What do you look for in your tiller?

Tiller Extension
  • Strength and Stiffness?
  • Low weight?
  • Low deck clearance at traveller?
  • Robustness?
  • Sexy appearance and different colours?
For optimum performance you need a tiller that provides all but the last item. If street cred is your game then you need the sexy look too! But by far the most important consideration must be given to the structural performance of your tiller. When you push hard on the tiller you want to know the rudder is going to go where you want and not someplace else. Not only that, the last thing you want is for the tiller to break when you go through a vicious gybe, or you bottom out going down a hairy run.

So what should you really look for in a good tiller?


Well first and foremost robustness. When you're leading a world championship race the last thing you want is gear failure. However, not all carbon fibre structures are robust. A robust structure comes from a well-designed / well-engineered part that is made from high quality, tough materials in a controlled high pressure-moulding environment to maximise fibre content. Secondly we need stiffness. What is stiffness? Actually it's just a measure of how much the part will deflect under load. Put 10kg on the end of your tiller and see how much it moves. So you need a part that deflects a minimal amount. And what's the best cross section for this type of loading? Answer: a hollow box section. But its no good just having the ultimate in stiffness. You don't want a steel girder hanging on the back of the boat - unless you want the boat to pitch fore and aft. That's a sure way to go slowly. No you want a low weight tiller, and this is where carbon fibre really scores over metals because its density is so much less. But that's no good if you don't optimise the construction of the laminate or take account of the fact that composites don't like holes. Just take a look at what happens in nature. Trees are nothing more than cantilever beams - like your tiller - and like trees, your tiller should taper from the stock to the tip with no sharp irregularities. Go from a solid beam to a thin skin and you instantly cause a massive stress raiser and most likely a big bang failure. AND holes have the same effect.
Click here to download an Excel table of all classes and there respective tiller extnesion length requirements

If your requirements are different to those in the table, don't hesitate to conatact us!

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