Tiller or wheel - what's your preference and why ??

  • Thread starter Thread starter CPD
  • Start date Start date
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

I have a tiller or my own boat (28ft) and in my opinion you feel the boats reaction/drag/preformance more with tiller. However, i on several occasions have sailed on both long and short passages on a beneteau first 36.7 that has tiller steering. This was hard work to steer and was very heavy on the tiller. I think the boat was too large for tiller. On a plus side, with a tiller extension you can huddle up under the spray hood to avoid the showers and steer at the same time. Also, for racing the helm person can also lean further over the side with tiller. They both have their ups and downs but, in my exp anything over 35ish feet i would opt for wheel steering.
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

[ QUOTE ]
On the flip side, you can't stick a wheel between your legs and eat at the same time as driving........

[/ QUOTE ]

I've got two offspring who do exactly that - use both hands to eat, whilst helming with their feet. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Not in heavy seas, but they're not that hungry then either. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

...and so can I /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I can also keep it still with my hip while attending to sheets etc if I can't be bothered locking it.
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

I have a Hanse 342. When I bought it two years ago Hanse tried to persuade me to go for a wheel. Their primary argument was that the boat would have a better second hand value than a tiller steered boat.

As we do a fair amount of two handed racing, I went for a tiller. With a wheel you are stuck behind it and can do little else but steer and possibly tweak the mainsheet.

With a tiller you can steer with it between your legs and have two hands free for sheets or halliards - very useful when the second crew is on the foredeck with the spinnaker.

A tiller also makes for a much roomier cockpit.

It's a tiller every time for me.

Ed
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

I have a tiller on my Eventide with its nice cosy 1 1/2 person cockpit and would not have anything else - do all the things people say steer with my bum, between the legs, use tiller lines and all that. but would not contemplate the same arrangement on my Bavaria 37!
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

Interesting that a number of people seem to suggest spade rudders and tillers are not good. In my experience spade rudders are the best type of rudder for tillers as most spade rudders are balanced therefore reducing the forces considerably. I suspect this is the very reason TP52s can use tillers.

The worst rudder for tillers must surely be full skeg hung.
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

Agree. But another big factor with the TP52s is that most of the upwind steering will be done with the mainsail not the rudder.
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

TP52s are steered by autopilot most of the time.
Not exactly what OP was talking about.

Of all the boats I've sailed those with spade rudders suffered the most from weather helm (both tiller & wheel). After a prolonged spell, muscles I did not know I had ached.

Current boat's got a wheel, hydraulic steering and skeg hung rudder. Never, ever need more than one hand/foot to steer.
IMHO - All this 'I want to feel the boat' stuff is a bit over-rated. It's fun for a while... but I want to sail the boat, in comfort - not fight it.
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

Owning two boats at opposite ends of the spectrum leads me to the view that you can't generalise. My Eventide has a long keel and a huge barn door rudder, I can balance her to sail herself with minimal load on the tiller. However, when she gets overpressed in a gust I look like those illustrations in Maurice Griffiths pre-war books - tiller up under the chin and biceps bulging. Bring out the tiller lines!

On the other hand my Bavaria can be balanced just as easily with its deep spade rudder but also loads up if pressed - just that the wheel takes the hard work out of it! As I said before the big advantage of the Bavaria is the neutral feel under power ahead or astern, which I think is partly due to the saildrive.
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

[ QUOTE ]
In many cases the better option is whichever the boat was designed for as in many cases the cockpit is too wide for the helmsman to brace himself at a tiller, and in other boats the cockpit is ruined by the presence of a wheel. My 34 is designed for a tiller and has a semi-balanced rudder to match. I have sailed a friend's sister-ship with a wheel and while it was quite nice to sail, it was awkward to move around.

Another consideration which I am coming to is my increasing discomfort when helming for a long time on one tack (at the tiller) due to turning my head the same way, now that my neck is getting decrepit. Although I am unlikely to change boats soon I believe I shall be looking for a wheel when the time comes.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why not use an autopilot? Retain advantages of tiller, have a much simpler and more effective mounting for the autopilot, and save yourself.
Decrepitude accelerates with age and it won't be long before you'll find the problems of a wheel-steering nagging you.
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

I doubt TP52s have an autopilot at all. They are mostly inshore, round the cans racers.

The fact your spade rudder was heavy suggests it wasn't balanced well or at all. A non-balanced rudder is the same a skeg-hung rudder - all the forces are aft of the pivot point.

Poster above is right that even this is a generalisation. The shape of the hull and the positioning of the rig can also have a big influence on the weight of the helm.

Some boats just get everything right, they have wonderful feel, are very well balanced and track well, so you can get the best of all worlds.
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

In that case - not what I think the OP is looking for.
IIRC he's looking for a boat to take him around Britain singlehanded.

I'm sticking to my point - in a breeze, tiller steering + spade rudder = hard work.
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

Can't see any mention of single handing round Britain..... or have I missed something?

Point is some cruiser racers of this size have tillers - and some have wheels. Think OP was seeking advice on pros and cons of each as he is moving "up" from a smaller tiller steered boat.

Balance, feel and weight is more a function of the boat rather than the steering method. Having been brought up to believe that long keels and keel hung, tiller steered rudders are best and spade rudders hanging on the end of the water line are the work of the devil, I was pleased to find that it was not so when I got there!
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

Ridas Jachts all designed with tillers. All built by ex Olympic sailing guy, all built to compete and WIN. Fast and exhilarating boats. It is an option to wheel which he will fit if required. But he will advise tiller.
I liked wheel on his 35 till taking tiller on another. He was right.

So for me I'd like wheel for cruising and occasional round cans stuff. But if serious ? Then it's tiller.

As another said there are serious sized boats out there with tillers from years ago to today. 35 - 37ft is not a change-over point. The change-over occurs due to amount of room for the 'lever' and the style / weight on rudder. But surely if a rudder requires such force as highly geared wheel in a yacht - then somethings wrong with design ?
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

Tosh Mr Reed. I had a Whitbread 30 with a spade rudder that was fantastically well balanced. The prob with a tiller was that as soon as one was cracked off and going rather quickly steering input was a pre-requisite. Hooning along at 14-18kts in a 30 footer means hard work that defies normal anatomy, result lots of bills for TLC!
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

Yes, but not on this one, so irrelevant to discussion!
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

Center cockpit, so no option but to have a wheel.
The cockpit is quite small so the wheel takes up a significant amount of space. If I ever get around to it, I would reduce the wheel diameter to about 2ft from about 2ft6, but it isn't a high priority.
No problem when single handed, Just put the AH on. It works off a stub tiller on the quadrant, so it is acceptable as an 'emergency' tiller.
Wheel is easy to steer by any novice, when going backwards you just go to the forward side of the wheel and steer as if you were going forward.
So on reflection, I wouldn't go back to a tiller.
 
Re: Tiller or wheel - what\'s your preference and why ??

For me it's horses for courses? Over my years of sailing / boating I've driven/helmed many different types of boats and each has had its own characteristics.

I've driven small motor boats that had tiller steering because a wheel was totally out of the question.

I've driven larger power boats that had wheel steering where a tiller would have been totally out of the question.

I've sailed 32' +/- cruising yachts with tiller steering for 10+ hours and my arms have felt like they were going to drop off and I'm a basic "gibbering wreck" by the end of the passage!

I've sailed 35-50' yachts with wheel steering for 10+ hours and still been fit and well at the end of the passage.

I've sailed single wheeled as well as double wheeled boats ~ no problems.

The problem I have is, many posters comment on the fact that they can "feel" the helm through holding a tiller and not a wheel ~ but I can "feel" the boat through not only my hands, but my feet and my "eyes" when using a wheel?

With wheel steering I'm standing up, I can see what is going on around me, I can look at the sail settings, I can feel the boat, see her heading etc, etc.

I can understand that if you're racing "around the cans" tiller steering would be a advantageous, but when cruising it's a different set of rules and I for one prefer wheel steering just because it's easier on me?

Peter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top