Can anyone cure me of my prejudice against wheel steering?

[Birdseye]

I am always thinking of the options for 'the next boat', as I think many of us do. I am thinking long term trips - round UK, Atlantic islands etc. up to 33 feet, quite possibly long keel (think Nic 31, Vancouver 32, Tradewind 33). However, there are plenty of perfectly respectable boats which I rule out because they have wheel steering and I have been trying to rationalise my reasons for doing so. I like tillers for the sense of a direct connection with the boat and the water flowing past. Also the lack of an obstruction in the middle of the cockpit, the ease of connection to wind vane self steering and simplicity of the engineering involved. I think it is possibly the latter point which concerns me most about wheel steering - all the linkages, gears, connections and bearings which simply represent something else to maintain and potentially go wrong at inconvenient times. There is so much less to go wrong with a stick of wood and its connection to the rudder. Am I wrong? Should I be adding Moody and Scanmar 33s to my list?

Chosing a boat isnt a rational process. Owning one isnt either. So why talk yourself out of something you prefer. Just spend your money on what you like.

A wheel is not necessarily a maintenance issue. My wheel has a rod linkage with rose joints and its maintenance free. I would be less happy with a wire rope / pulley system and would avoid a hydraulic system altogether. Personally I have had tillers and wheels and if anything prefer wheels. With my 30 inch wheel I have something like 15 ft of rim movement lock to lock without having to move myself or be sat at the front of the cockpit with a tiller sweeping across in everyones way. On the other hand the wheel is a PITA in port taking up lots of cockpit room. Mind you, its all a bit theoretical because on passage I always use the autohelm, a below decks Robertson hydraulica system which is first class and doesnt lose concentration.

Its another Whitlock Cobra by the way.

 

[rwoofer]

For me 90% plus cruising boats are simply not sensitive enough to make tiller steering enjoyable, which is why on a cruising boat I would almost exclusively have a wheel. Currently I have 3 sailing boats with tillers, 2 are racing dinghies with wonderful feedback on the tiller and the third is a Jeanneau Sun 2000 which is considered a racy cruiser. The Sun 2000 is not in the same league (even though it is relatively fun for a keelboat), likewise my even racier, tiller steered RM880. All my cruising boats seem to spend most of the time on an autopilot.

 

[Kelpie]

I admit I am quite biased against wheels, based on not very much experience of them, but a tiller was on the 'must have' list when we got our new boat.
I like being able to go lock to lock in half a second, and knowing exactly where the rudder is pointing. Useful when shuffling around using bursts of ahead and astern in a tight space. Obviously a wheel can do this too but takes a little longer to reverse the lock.
Most wheels appear to be right at the back of the cockpit, leaving the helmsman stuck out away from any shelter. Our tiller is closer to the forward end of the cockpit, and you can hem whilst sat under the sprayhood.

Of course, if everybody liked the same thing, life would be very boring...

 

[snowleopard]

Our tiller is closer to the forward end of the cockpit, and you can hem whilst sat under the sprayhood.

Of course, if everybody liked the same thing, life would be very boring...

I hate the wheel steering setups where you have to (a) climb half way out of the cockpit to get behind the wheel and (b) stand on the seats to see over the spray hood because the plastic window is semi-opaque. It doesn't have to be that way...

p.s. my crew kidnapped another boat's mascot before the start of the ARC. Caption contributions welcome.

 

[prv]

Can you see the sails at all from under there?

I was going to comment on lack of access to sheets etc as well, but then I remembered you have an aero-rig so perhaps that doesn't apply.

Pete

 

[snowleopard]

Can you see the sails at all from under there?

I was going to comment on lack of access to sheets etc as well, but then I remembered you have an aero-rig so perhaps that doesn't apply.

Pete

I now have a window above my head. Before that I would lean backwards and look over the hard top..

I didn't rig the sheets to be accessible from the helm as I have one each side (no need for downforce so twin sheets with a more advantageous angle) you can see the port mainsheet in the gap between the duck and the cabin top.

 

[[10753]]

Must admit I've never really considered this as it seemed likely that when I bought a larger boat it would probably have wheel steering. And this year we have purchased a larger boat with wheel steering. On the plus side you don't have to keep bending down to increase revs or change into reverse. You can sit down to steer. The wheel is removable to increase cockpit space when in port. Downsides so far (but they may be lack of practice) is I sometimes have trouble with midships, lock to lock and back again is not so quick as a tiller and its not so easy to steer hands free so you can eat and hold a plate ! At the end of the day you will get used to either, the principles are the same but in practice they are very different. The big plus is the autopilot which is much simpler.

 

[Daydream believer]

Met a dutch chap whose father had bought him and his sister a new HR 35 EACH for a prezzie
One had wheel steering. & one had tiller
The chap said that everyone who had sailed both boats had agreed that the tiller steering was better