Just bought a Typhoon--help

[achanwat]

Just bought a Typhoon. Basically good shape. No roller furling. I assume it sails better without furling but I am 71 and am thinking about it. What system and how much? Also tiller autopilot. What brand and model would you suggest? Also would love to awlgrip it dark green and change the color of the non skid. Am I dreaming? How much? Tom Watkins email: achanwat1@yahoo.com.

[tartansailor]

Congratulations on your good taste in boats and good luck with your Typhoon.
You may wish to take a hard look at your sails first.
No fun sailing with blown out bags.
After that a tiller steer.
Don't get hung up on upgrades, improvements etc for the first year.
Sail it hard and often.
Gain experience with that boat, then you may wish to make refinements
based on what you have experienced.
imho
Dick

[Oswego John]

Ditto what Dick says. I suggest that you give it lots more thought about installing a tiller autopilot. Other than the occasional use of nav running lights and the rare use of a small bilge pump, (manual would do), the Ty has very low need for batteries.

The Ty has no Diesel powerplant to operate an alternator to replenish juice to extra, needed batteries. I would suggest to avoid the weight of extra equipment. Auto pilots need to be powered. The Ty is a well designed small sailboat that doesn't require any special add-ons. Extra weight doesn't compliment her in any way. A good suit of sails, well balanced, will provide easy steering.

Sail her "as is for a season. Roller furling might prove a nice thing for you.

You have a nice little boat. Good luck with her. Keep the forum in touch with how you make out.

O J

[mashenden]

On one of my Tys I went to the trouble of adding a tiller brake (used friction against a line going from one side of the cockpit to the other) serving to hold the tiller in position while I adjusted sails or popped a brew. A battery free option that worked great. Since then I have made similar "systems" using a bungee cord or a spare line laying about the cockpit.

[ariasis]

Congratulation on the new boat. You are going to have a ball with her. Listen to Tartan sail her and see how you like the current rig set up. I was considering going a roller furler but the hank on sail goes up and down easily/no jams.. mashenden has the right idea regarding the tiller auto pilot. I had one I my larger boat and it never worked all that great. Lashing off the tiller is pretty easy and the boat sails pretty strait. I re-did my anti-skid. This year and have had good luck with interlux bright sides. Here is the link to my blog post about it. You can also read back about the process on my old boat. http://bristol-blue.blogspot.com/2012/0 ... -skid.html This is for sure a good place to start I think I used 1 quarts for the whole boat but that was going over the same color. If you do a color change you should not need more than 2 quarts. the anti-skid additive was $21.00 So I'd say color change your looking at around $130... same color pry $75. DIY of course. But well worth the cost protects the deck and keeps you from falling in the drink.

[bamabratsche]

There's always the "Cajun Tiller Tamer":

http://www.blumhorst.com/potterpages/Ph ... -tamer.htm

[tjr818]

This method works pretty well for us.