one hand for the wheel, one for the boat...

[dulls]

Yes. Have you been following this thread for 11 years?

 

[pvb]

Yes. Have you been following this thread for 11 years?

Avidly, waiting for you to compose your reply.

 

[dulls]

My next post on this thread will be in 2031. How old are you?

 

[Lightwave395]

I've had both, my current boat of 15 years is a 12M sailboat with a tiller. I thought when I first bought her that she was too big for a tiller but my Lewmar pedestal / wheel / drag link etc remains in the garage where it's been for 7 years. As an ex-dinghy racer I enjoy sailing with a tiller, especially on a reach in a blow plus in port I can lift up the tiller and get a serious space increase.
It's totally personal preference, the key thing IMHO is having the best possible autopilot, I have a Raymarine gyro pilot, no groping around connecting an arm.

 

[DJE]

Our standard configuration for motoring back up the harbour is standing with coffee in one hand, sandwich in the other, and tiller between the thighs. Alternatively both hands in warm pockets and tiller as above. What is the equivalent with a wheel?

Forget that - I've now got a boat with a wheel!

(Had it five years actually)

 

[James_Calvert]

Forget that - I've now got a boat with a wheel!

(Had it five years actually)

So do you have to eat your sandwich now with gloves on?

 

[rogerthebodger]

So do you have to eat your sandwich now with gloves on?

Steer with your feet

Connect the autopilot

If hydraulic steering you can just loose the wheel and it stays where it is.

 

[James_Calvert]

How do you steer round something?

This is close quarters stuff isn't it?

 

[rogerthebodger]

How do you steer round something?

This is close quarters stuff isn't it?

In close quarters I would not be eating or drinking.

If I did have a drink I would put it in a cup/bottle holder attached next to my steering wheel.

To steer around just put down whats in your hand and steer by hand or if on autopilot just select jog function and manually steer until you pass what is inyour way.

 

[James_Calvert]

Well,

the no hands solution with the tiller in the bum just involves a bit of twerking.

Still intrigued how you steer with your feet. I'd want to be in front of the wheel, makes it easier for things to be passed out from the galley, or to manage the mainsheet or genoa sheets...but then the toes would be pointing the wrong way.

Just my whimsy, don't take it too seriously!

 

[Old Harry]

is wheel steering more difficult for singlehanding? (it's amazing how many different part so the body can be used to steady a tiller)

A good autopilot is the answer

 

[RJJ]

Twin wheels with a budget boat is something you need to keep an eye on. All that cabling....a little stretch goes a long way. And if it fails, it's harder to fix.

If it's done better, there's a separate cable to each wheel, which also gives you a bit of redundancy. If it's done really well, there's a risk-based system. But both those cost more.

Not that twin wheels with a single cable is a disaster. As with all such topics, there are thousands of boats sailing happily worldwide, making long passages, and providing affordable fun. But it is one more thing to keep a careful eye on and maintain.

 

[Stemar]

The worst of both worlds was a mate's Westerly. My senile brain's forgotten the model number, but it was a centre cockpit Centaur, with a wheel mounted just below the hatch to the "aft cabin" - more of a boot with a couple of berths. If she was upright, you could sit on the hatch and steer with your feet but, under sail, or when you need to reach the throttle, it was safer to sit in the cockpit and steer with one hand. Only trouble was, for anyone used to a tiller, you had to move your arm in the opposite direction. Add a throttle/gear control (unlabeled) on the forward end of the cockpit, left for forward, right for astern (or was it the other way round?) and marina manoeuvres could be, well, interesting.

 

[Graham376]

A good autopilot is the answer

It's the answer for both tiller and wheel, ours does 95% of the steering.

I found tiller an advantage when picking up mooring single handed under sail, easy to stand astride it, leaving both hands to trim sail. Can't do that with wheel on current boat.

 

[dulls]

The worst of both worlds was a mate's Westerly. My senile brain's forgotten the model number, but it was a centre cockpit Centaur, with a wheel mounted just below the hatch to the "aft cabin" - more of a boot with a couple of berths. If she was upright, you could sit on the hatch and steer with your feet but, under sail, or when you need to reach the throttle, it was safer to sit in the cockpit and steer with one hand. Only trouble was, for anyone used to a tiller, you had to move your arm in the opposite direction. Add a throttle/gear control (unlabeled) on the forward end of the cockpit, left for forward, right for astern (or was it the other way round?) and marina manoeuvres could be, well, interesting.

Most probably a Berwick or a Pentland of the Longbow class?

 

[James_Calvert]

Most probably a Berwick or a Pentland of the Longbow class?

There is an aft cabinned Centaur variant known as the Chieftain.

 

[dulls]

I have just learnt something. I always thought the aft cabins started with the Longbow class.

 

[Stemar]

There is an aft cabinned Centaur variant known as the Chieftain.

That's the one. Thanks

Though calling it an aft cabin is a bit optimistic. It's more that you get to the quarter berths through a lazarette, not the cabin. Great when you've got a couple of youngish kids, though, which was his case.

 

[Kukri]

I think this is an interesting subject. I used to single hand a lot in boats with tillers. Now I have a boat with a wheel. I have sailed a big boat with a tiller (and been thrown across the cockpit, after forgetting to put the tiller lines on) and I agree with everyone else that bigger boats are better with wheels. There is a good case for tiller steering in quite big racers, because they can respond faster.

In my case, Whitlock Mamba - drag link.

There is a related question - it used to be an “article of faith” that to single hand a bigger boat you needed to have the primary winches reachable from the helm. Mine are not. They could be made so at considerable trouble and expense, though one can lunge at the wheel (dodging the mainsheet) from the deeper part of the cockpit.

If the primaries were moved to where the helmsperson could get at them, then the crew could not conveniently do so.

What does the panel think?