I can't hold the helm all the time!

Time to focus on what will keep the tiller, and helm the boat, when I cannot! The long tiller extension allows me to do most manoeuvres from the cockpit while still holding the extension, or at least having it nearby. However, in stronger winds, when the boat despite its great stability will want to luff up (or bear away), I expect this to be harder. Also, there will be situations when I will be away from the tiller - e.g. changing the front sail to a storm jib, reefing the mainsail, correcting a spinnaker stuck in the forestay, fixing any issue, or just changing clothes. 

There are basically two solutions: a rope that holds the rudder in a fixed position, and an electronic autopilot.

I like the first solution for its simplicity - a rope to hold the tiller (perhaps with elastics at both end to allow for some minor course corrections). This rope can be easily fixed on both sides of the boat aft, and then attached when needed to the tiller, for example with a clove hitch knot (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clove_hitch). This knot, when made loose, allows moving the tiller along the rope, to adjust the course. There is much better solution though, the one used in the past by my fellow Translemanique sailors on one of YCC's Surprises, Mic Mac. This special cleat with a pulley, when open, allows the rope to move freely either way - and when locked with a special switch, blocks the rope completely. I took this cleat from Mic Mac and plan to install it at the very end of Jedi's tiller. Either on top of the tiller - which would be the most convenient to use and better for rope angles, but perhaps (to be checked) disturbing the tiller extension. Or from below - but it's trickier to fix, and there is a risk that the rope slips out of the cleat too easily. To be decided... noting that either way, this cleat goes at the end of the tiller, which is where some sailors may want to hold the tiller when they don't use the extension. Perhaps the cleat should only be installed for Translemanique practice and participation, but then removed until the next Translemanique? In any case, I will certainly use this system.

The other solution is the old Raymarine (Raytheon) ST1000+ electronic autopilot (https://www.raymarine.com/en-us/our-products/boat-autopilots/autopilot-packs/st1000-st2000, SKU A12004), that the club purchased together with Gibsea. This autopilot is fixed to the side of the hull on one side, and to the tiller on the other side, and extends or retracts to move the tiller left and right. Its has an internal compass, and in the Auto mode, helms the boat to keep it on a given course. The course cane be adjusted with the usual +1, -1, +10 and -10 buttons. This sounds great - and actually, Luigi used this autopilot on Mamma Mia in 2019, and fitted that boat for the autopilot. However Jedi is not yet prepared for this autopilot. To install it, I'd need to fix:

• a mounting socket (fr. tolet de fixation pour pilote de barre franche Raymarine, ref. D002) on the side of the boat (ideally, starboard)
• a tiller pin on the tiller (fr. rotule standard ref. D001), or a short/long threaded tiller pin (fr. rotule tige filetée courte 27mm ref. D014 / longue 60mm ref. D021) 
• a 6-pin electric cockpit socket (fr. prise cockpit ref. D338), and cables (up to 4 m, 2.5mm2, protected with a 12A fuse) to the switchboard / battery, to connect the autopilot to the power

Preparing for that installation, I've purchased online the necessary items. However, when studying it further and preparing for the installation yesterday at the boat, I've noticed a number of issues and difficulties - which I list here for future reference (in case I or someone else does it in the following years):

• The tiller at the place where the pin needs to go (460mm from the rudder axis) is too low by some 8.5-9cm, so I'd need to add a tiller bracket (ref. D011). Luckily we have this bracket on Gibsea under the tiller - I imagine it could be moved to Jedi. However it's not the most beautiful thing to have installed permanently on Jedi, on top of the tiller (so very visible).
• The place where the mounting socket is fixed would need to be reinforced with plywood glued on the inside of the boat. Not a major problem, but not an easy access there.
• Both the mounting socket and the electric socket would need to be installed (=holes drilled) in the watertight buoyancy compartment at the aft of the boat.  While the mounting socket can be easily made watertight, it would be harder to do so for the electric socket in the cockpit, and the cable pulled inside the boat between the socket and the switchboard / battery. 
• The electric cable would need to be longer than 4m, which is the maximum length recommended in the manual.
• I tried the autopilot on Mamma Mia, and when I enable Auto mode, it seems to work for a bit but then displays "1000" and switches back to Stand-by mode. User manual doesn't mention this, and online research on this issue was inconclusive... 
• Electric consumption on Auto mode is 0.5A to 1.5A, which is not negligible. I'm a bit worried that in any case I won't be able to use it much.
• Last but not least, it's a sophisticated device that can fail for a number of reasons, so not something I can entirely rely on - I would in any case need the rope solution described above.  

It would be great to have an autopilot, on top of a rope system - but given all these points, I think I will not install on Jedi and use the autopilot this year, and use only the rope solution. However, it could be interesting to prepare Jedi for the autopilot in the future.