Hi Ulrik and Mark
I replaced the bushings, because I disliked the slack, but the slack itself is not dangerous or harmfull. I also replaced th bushings, because I hoped later to remove or move the tiller, which I also did, so when I had the opportunity to replace the bushings I did.
The new bushings however seemed a little too tight, and I lost the feeling with the balance of the boat and sails, so I had to make the inside diameter of the bushing a little larger with a cutting tool called a "Reamer", in Danish a "Rival". (Ikke en konkurrent. Udtales med tryk på første stavelse: en ri-val). The bushings are made out of nylon, and when inserted in the boat they tend to become slightly oval, thus squezing the rudder stem. This is because the hole in the ship for the bushing is probably not perfectly round or perfectly aligned with the hole at the top. Therefor the bushings might fit perfectly when fitted over the rudder stem when trying on for size with the rudder out of the hull. You might even think the new bushings are a little too big. But when everything is reassembled, you may have the feeling the bushing are too small.
Anyway, if the movement of the tiller (and rudder) is reduced, and the tiller remains in the same position when you let go of it while sailing. Then you might want to use a reamer. You might also want to wait til the wear has solved the problem, but that might take years.
I used an adjustable hand reamer, and merely schratched the internal surface of the bushings. Don't remove the bushings for this operation. You want to compensate for the ovalness if there is any. An adjustable hand reamer looks like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:ReamerAdjustableHand.jpg
This posting is not very well organized, and you may think this is very very complicated. Well it is in fact very simple when you have the rigt tool. I borrowed mine from the local boatequipment and boat engine dealer.
Good luck.
