Dear Joan,

Would you please pass this to Olaf Swarbrick or use it if you choose. Olaf has been unable to set his Devon Yawl to self-steer.

My old fourteen footer will self-steer, if conditions are good and if she is sailed close to the wind. Without any attention she will sail while I enjoy my lunch or go forward to make an adjustment, or just to look back into an empty boat. Warning! Don't do this without a safety line; if a single-hander goes overboard from a self-steered dinghy, there's trouble.

The method I use for self-steering is simple; just tie the tiller to the windward gunwale and adjust the length of the line until she will sail to windward.

The theory is also simple. When the line goes tight it provides a touch of weather helm, just enough to turn her off the wind; then the line goes slack and the rudder is free; at this point the sails take over and bring her back onto the wind but, just before the sails empty, the line comes tight again applying weather helm and the process is repeated.

It sounds like a zig zag course, but it feels quite straight; the only clue to zig zag is the line from the gunwale to the tiller which goes tight, slack, tight, slack as the rudder hunts for the ideal position that a good helmsman would steer.

John Deacon