Do yachts with twin wheel helms mean less reliability in steering gear?

[Mrnotming]

If I do decide to change the vessel, and if offered a boat with twin helms, would I be going backwards in technology?I currently have Cobra gear,quadrant and rigid rod connection to a single pedestal.
i.e are there boats with direct mechanical systems to two helms, which do not involve wire and tensioners?

 

[pvb]

What's wrong with wire steering? My old Hallberg-Rassy was 24 years old when I sold her, and still on the original wire steering.

Many modern boats use Jefa wire steering - highly praised by Yachting Monthly, and well engineered.

 

[rogerthebodger]

There is also hydraulic steering with single or 2 wheel steering. Mine is 2 wheel steering one in cockpit and one in wheelhouse.

 

[Barbican]

Mine has Lewmar Mamba steering from twin helm to twin rudders - uses torsion tubes and gears, I believe Jefa have a similar system as well.

 

[lpdsn]

More reliable I would've thought. I have two quadrants on the rudder stock. Failure of one still means the other works.

 

[Adamastor]

Some twin-helm installations use a single (more or less continuous) wire from one or two rudder posts.
The simple gauge is the greater the length of the wire = greater stretch = mushier feel and sloppier steering.
Ideally, as the OP said, duplicated systems are the best, and a 4-groove quadrant or a disk quadrant can sometimes be employed instead of twins if there's a single rudder. Otherwise there can be a tie-bar or similar linkage between twin rudders.
For a normal production boat there usually isn't a problem, and there's no reason to be suspicious of twin wheel steering. Just check wire swages and eyes, check the tension, and inspect the chains. And if your eyes tell you a story, don't trust the seller when it comes to steering!

 

[Tony Cross]

I've never had a problem with my twin helm cable steering in the 10 years I've had the boat. AFAIK the cables are still original (from 1995) though I check them and grease them every winter. My autopilot acts directly on the quadrant so even if I broke a cable I can still steer the boat via the autopilot.