Do you prefer a wheel or a tiller?

Halcyon Yachts

Halcyon Yachts

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We have just completed the yacht delivery of a lovely Hallberg-Rassy 342 from the factory in Sweden to Falmouth. A fabulous yacht, beautifully made and very comfortable and responsive to sail! The only thing is, she has a tiller instead of a wheel...

What are your thoughts on this? I was slightly surprised that HR hadn't designed her with a wheel.


Pete
 
Up until last year I had owned two yachts with tillers and as a dinghy sailor for over 40 years I was very happy with the responsiveness and feel from a tiller. and aways thought wheels were the work of the devil. Then I went from 31 feet to 37 feet on a bit of a whim and inherited a wheel. Its a bit like going from being a 'I only ever want to drive a manual car as it gives me more control' person to 'I wish I had bought an automatic years ago' - everything is easier, more upwind directional stability in a blow, simple and fast engagement of an autopilot when short handed or single-handed, and significantly better control downwind. Why did wait 20 years?
 
I haven't seen a 342 with a wheel, though quite a lot of 34s have wheels; mine has a tiller. One problem with early 34s with wheels was that the mechanism intruded into the aft cabin, but later ones were better.

The wheel option is popular on the Continent, so I imagine that HR give it as an option on the 342. The trouble to my mind is that the cockpit is not designed around a wheel, so getting past the wheel can be awkward. This is so on the wheeled 34 and must be worse on the 342 because of the higher mainsail track.

As a general rule, it is usually assumed that a tiller is better on smaller craft, and a wheel on larger ones, with the crossover at around 34ft. There are exceptions of course. My Mystere 26 had a wheel, but was designed around it, as are the smaller Bavarias. On the other hand, I visited a very nice Luffe 40 with a tiller a couple of years ago. I imagine that the slippery and well-balance hull made this effective.

There's nothing quite like the sensitivity of a good tiller system when working a boat to windward, and the helm position makes it easy to brace oneself when the boat is heeling. On the other hand, I often get a rick in the neck on a long downwind leg and really feel quite envious of those with wheels.
 
Happy with either, but we have a wheel and I love it. Tiller is handy to swing up out of the way in port, but wheel is also excellent for hanging towels to dry. :cool:
 
My boat has a hydraulically operated wheel with non return valves.
Whilst there is no feedback to the wheel you can steer with one finger and go off to brew up whilst sailing single handed no problem.
So I am total convert to the wheel.
 
I think this debate will be pointless unless the size of the boat is taken into account: wheel better for bigger boat and tiller for smaller, while it is personal preference for anything in-between. Then all we have to argue about are the limits of in-between; I would suggest 30 to 36ft.
 
Woohoo...someone else likes the boat I have! I think they sail well too. I chose mine with a tiller. More feel and dont need a wheel on a 34 ft boat and with a tiller it gives lots of cockpit space when pushed up out of the way once moored.....got any footage of her by any chance?

stupid me....just seen you did add footage!!!! Lol
 
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For long monotonous passages wheels are a lot easier, less tiring and when set up properly lose very little response compared to a tiller. However, when out for a thrash about then a tiller is so much more fun.
 
TangaraToo said:
When single handed prefer tiller as knees can be useful when tacking, with crew a wheel is preferred.
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+1 At 35' our boat is about as big as regularly seem with a tiller. However the feel and response is good. I have sailed boats with wheels and found them OK, but on balance I like the tiller. The look and feel of a newly varnished tiller takes some beating. :-)
 
I don't like yachts with a single small wheel, where the only way to steer is from behind the wheel like driving a car.
A proper big wheel, where you can sit on the side deck and steer is a different matter.
I also don't like yachts below 50ft where you cannot steer and operate the mainsheet at the same time.
A lot of wheel steered yachts fall foul of this.
 
We have a little 26 foot boat, so it obviously has a tiller but I have to say, having chartered much larger boats, I definitely prefer a wheel.... and I know this is going to be contentious but actually, I really like twin wheeled boats!
 
I have only occasionally helmed a boat with a wheel, and prefer the feel of a tiller. A tiller does have one advantage denied to wheel users, you can steer the boat and still have both hands free to do other things by steering with your bum. :D
 
I have a preference for a tiller if possible - gives you much more mobility around the cockpit to access the controls - very important when short handed and it gives better feedback.
 
There is really only one answer to this: "it depends".

There are 60 footers that happily get by with a tiller (or two), and 30 footers that work well with a wheel.
 
Leighb said:
I have only occasionally helmed a boat with a wheel, and prefer the feel of a tiller. A tiller does have one advantage denied to wheel users, you can steer the boat and still have both hands free to do other things by steering with your bum. :D
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Hmmmmm... but then you look like you have a big knob... not a problem for males but somewhat different for females. :o
 
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