Dual yacht steering

billyfish

billyfish

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I have a finnish motor sailer which is having a bit of a refit soon. She is tiller steered with a wheel in the cabin, control is by toothed cable from the wheel to under the tiller. It works fine ish but there is a bit of play at the wheel which is annoying. I would like, but don't know if it's possible, to disengaged the wheel when using the tiller so your not moving all the components. Can it be achieved using a hydraulic system with a bypass valve ? Thanks
 
The cable steering you described did have a couple of advantages when originally fitted relatively low cost simple and easy replacement and produce feedback ie good for sailing
But had its drawbacks sloppy and back drive loads when dual station set up along with the extra cost of hydraulic makes hydraulic a more viable option now along with the requirements of auto pilot
 
Hydraulic is good, cost-effective and simple to install, but as mentioned above the drawback is that you get no feel (feedback) from the rudder. This may, or may not be a deal-breaker depending on how much you like to sail and 'feel' the helm. I believe there are ways to achieve this but add cost & complexity.

Our recent boat had dual-helm, rod steering. Loads of play after 50+ years as you have described. I priced up replacing it with a full Jefa system (I think original fit was Parsons Matheson) but fell down twice with the price! If a replacement is needed it would likely be hydraulic.
 
Usually I sail with the tiller....wheel for those motoring into the wind moment's which seem to be a regular acurance. Any recommendations of a make ?
 
billyfish said:
Usually I sail with the tiller....wheel for those motoring into the wind moment's which seem to be a regular acurance. Any recommendations of a make ?
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I'm on my second hydraulic steered boat with dual helm stations.
On the previous, larger one we had two hydraulic stations and an emergency tiller that acted directly on the rudder stock. A bypass valve that essentially connects/isolates both feed lines to the cylinder made the use of the tiller possible/ easier.

On our current model we have a hydraulic helm in the wheelhouse and a tiller in the cockpit. We do not have a bypass, so the tiller turns the wheel and causes some resistance. I shall be installing a valve at some time in an easily accessible location (cockpit).

I have never found a rudder indicator necessary.

If you convert to a hydraulic system choose a largish pump to keep the number of turns hard to hard at a minimum. My lager boat had five, which was borderline ok. The current one is 3.5 which is better, but not perfect; luckily she's pretty steady on the helm. I sailed on one in heavy weather that had 10 turns hard to hard and it was like being trapped in a freakish wheelchair race.
 
Surely the answer is to figure out where the play is and eliminate it

Replace the cable, perhaps, or fit a tensioner.

What is a toothed chain? Like on a bicycle?
 
It's a tele flex. With a cable..I've had it apart and the conclusion is to replace the cable..so might as well upgrade to hydraulic. It also will give me peace of mind that it wont jam ...
 
billyfish said:
Any diagrams to show oil flow and where a valve would go to make the tiller free to steer
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The valve would basically link the two sides of the hydraulic ram, so that as the piston moves oil can get from one side of it to the other without going through the whole system. As close as possible to the ram would minimise resistance, but I don't know how much difference this actually makes in practice.

Pete
 
prv said:
As close as possible to the ram would minimise resistance, but I don't know how much difference this actually makes in practice.
Click to expand...

Genuine question for those with more experience than me in hydraulics, though. Because if the extra pipe run doesn't make much difference, it would be sensible to fit the bypass valve near the wheel so that you can "switch it on" and use it without having to move around.

Pete
 
Try a couple of manufacturers ie sea star or whatever there current name is or vetus
It’s worth getting their input but roughly if a teleflex can cope with the load practically any hydraulic will be up to it
Check the stroke of the teleflex as 9” nominal ie suits outboards became the default there were also 12” stroke cables D320 that increased capacity
 
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