Wheel versus Tiller on 32 footer

I'm completely overwhelmed by the number and length of replies to my question.

Just to summarise your comments:

Wheel
Harder to put rudder over quickly and back again, running before a sea.
Handles the autopilot better.
No tiller pilot to get in the way.
Enables the boat to be sold more easily (when the time comes).
Needs more maintenance.
Big instrument console gets in the way. (A BIG NEGATIVE POINT).
Instruments too near the eyes. (IDEM).
Upright view and throttle handling when manoeuvring in marinas, etc.
Instruments not visible when not behind the wheel. (NEGATIVE POINT).

Tiller:
Wide cockpit -- hard to brace yourself without the pedestal.
Can put rudder over and back quickly, running before a sea.
Gives direct feedback -- I like that.
Need to bend down to adjust throttle, lose visual references at critical point.
Instruments moved to forward end of cockpit -- visible everywhere.
Can be lifted out of the way in port -- full cockpit available for whatever.
Simpler than wheel -- less to go wrong.
Instant visual rudder angle display -- weather / lee helm visible.

That more or less summarises the two sides of the subject.

My main complaint is not so much the wheel itself -- I have very little experience with wheel steering, and what little I had was some 17 / 18 years ago. The main problem is the sheer bulk of the instrument console, its obtrusiveness and height, the fact the instruments are only visible from the exposed positions aft of the wheel. I much prefer the instruments on the cabin bulkhead, where I can see them from all positions in the cockpit, especially when on autopilot and single-handed.

The ideal solution could be to have the wheel and binnacle, without the console, but that does not seem possible, since the whole unit comes integrated in the standard boat. To remove just the console means cutting metal, moving the instruments to the forward face of the cockpit, rerouting cables, covering the back of the instruments (they would protrude into the heads compartment). It is also not clear how the seatalk cables would be routed from the heads back to the switch panel, etc, etc.

Probably not a job for the faint-hearted, and probably why the dealer was so interested in not supplying tiller steering.

I think I'll just contact the dealer and tell him what I want, and take no more arguments on the matter. After all, I am the customer, and thus always right, by definition !!!

Thanks all of you for your help and comments. They have helped me clarify my ideas.
 
Plomong
A friend of mine has a Grand Soleil 45 which has wheel steering but his binacle only has the wheel, engine controls and streering compass - no other instruments.

It is possible for you to have only the bear minimum on the binacle?
 
Small world.
I have a Leisure 29 with a Whitlock wheel Pedestal, wearing only a steering compass and on the rail a 2 instrument pod with Depth and GPS repeater. Fantastic… For I have reached that age when Glasses are worn more than drunk from (I lie), however its great in wet and windy conditions to be able to sit/perch or stand securely and easily read those 2 instruments rather than peering up the cockpit at the distant images of those over the wash boards. Therefore I wouldn't go back voluntarily to a tiller for all the tea...etc. Almost regardless of the boat size.

We now have the next generation of deck monkeys just cutting their teeth (grandkids 3 to 6 year olds) so needing the extra space have recently been looking at Sadler 34's and surprisingly almost none have wheels, yet the first thing I would do is lash out the £2k or so and have one installed.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone with Sadler34’s on this very subject.

Either way… Have fun… Peter
 
Oldestgit,

I'm also getting on in years, and now need reading glasses, but my daughters have not yet made me a grandad (that I know of!!!), so I understand your comments.

The builder, Beneteau, has a standard wheel unit consisting of the patented binnacle with wheel mounted on it so it may rotate 90 around the vertical axis for improved access through the transom and into the forward part of the cockpit.

However, just in front of the wheel, the unit has a large instrument console mounted on two metal legs that reach up to and above the console to form a (somewhat too high) handhold above the console. A third metal tube (2+ inches diam) runs from the lower end of the console down to the cockpit sole, presumably for cabling.

The console itself has a lower part at 45 deg typically for mounting a full GPS plotter (Raymarine 435 GPS Plotter) measuring 178 x 176 mm face mounted on the console. The sloped part measures approx 250 wide by 300 + high.

The upper part, nearly vertical, can house three ST60+ instruments side by side, each measuring 110 mm wide, with space between them. Overall width about 390 mm, maybe 150 high.

The sloped part is maybe 100 to 120 mm thick, reducing to maybe 50 mm in the vertical part. The mid point of the sloped part is at the height of the top of the wheel.

So you see, it is quite a sizeable affair, so high in fact that it is integrated with the binnacle for extra support and not easily removed. I'm now trying to get the dealer to convince the builders to supply just the wheel and binnacle, with motor controls attached, and place the instruments on the forward bulkhead. However, I have little hope they will comply with my requirements, in which case I'll go for the tiller and be done with it.

Damo and TheBoatman suggest a Whitlock pedestal. Maybe next year I could modify the boat for wheel steering with their pedestal. As I don't know the brand, could you post a web address, telephone or mail address ??
 
I see advantages of both. A tiller gives more feeling, where with a wheel there is practically nothing - its a bit like cars, one with power steering and one without. I prefer the tiller for manoeuvring, but when offshore sailing the wheel is by far better especially if there is a fair swell - it gives something to hold on to better and 'ride' out the waves. Given the choice, I would have the wheel.
 
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