Wheelspin

[doug748]

A poster in a recent thread showed us two grand modern boats:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2631/3883472797_a8770f391f.jpg
And:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3518/3884265272_9c3f6fec02.jpg

Why the steering wheels though? I find the things get in the way in the cockpit, at sea and alongside. They make you stand in a most exposed position when underway and are difficult, short handed, at close quarters. They are expensive, heavy and prone to failure. They lack the feel of a tiller.
The only advantages I can see are for Centre Cockpits, or very large boats, or, of course, boats that are so unbalanced they are pigs in any sort of wind.
The boats above are none of these things, so Why?

 

[davidej]

Like being povocative?

 

[Tranona]

Like being povocative?

Yes, What he really meant to say was that tillers are crude, take up too much room in the cockpit and don't go with the elegance of the two boats. Given also they are "picnic" boats when not sailing the pedestal makes the attachment of a table for al fresco dining easier.

There, everybody should be happy now!

 

[Twister_Ken]

I'm with doug. The wheel spoils the looks, and it ain't natural.

 

[snooks]

I find the things get in the way in the cockpit, at sea and alongside. They make you stand in a most exposed position when underway and are difficult, short handed, at close quarters. They are expensive, heavy and prone to failure. They lack the feel of a tiller.
The only advantages I can see are for Centre Cockpits, or very large boats, or, of course, boats that are so unbalanced they are pigs in any sort of wind.
The boats above are none of these things, so Why?

If you're looking at a Morris 36 I don't think the cost of a wheel is one of those questions you'll be asking the helm on the Morris is light and precise and does give you feedback, like many other good steering systems.

I can only think that you might have had a bad experience on a boat with a wheel the size of a tea tray, so you're tarring the disadvanages of that boat onto all boats with wheels. I'm sorry but most of what you posted above is nonsense in a well designed boat.

There are bad wheel steering systems around, but to say, as you do,

They make you stand in a most exposed position when underway and are difficult, short handed, at close quarters. They are expensive, heavy and prone to failure. They lack the feel of a tiller.

shows a lack of understanding of the systems available. Give me a boat with rod steering, (not cable or hydraulic) over a tiller any day. And that's before one has the ability to switch on an autopilot with the flick of a switch rather than having to find the tiller pilot, plug it in, set it up etc etc (which is a boon if you're sailing short handed) You can lock the wheel in line with a twist of the wrist, no lines to tie or tiller locks needed.

If the boat is well designed you don't have to stand all the time, if the wheel is big enough you can sit on the combing. You can get wheels that go around the binacle, wheels that fold, removable wheels, twin wheels etc

The tiller on my boat is long and can take out most of the cockpit in a tack, manoeuvring her with the throttle where it is means that I have to bend over the tiller to adjust it, if I don't, I have to move the tiller to access the throttle, not great when steering in tight spaces. On a wheel the throttle is there in front of you, it's possible to stand up to get a better view and still reach the throttle.

As for why the Morris has a wheel, person who came up with the Morris 36 concept wanted to be able to have one hand on the helm and dip the other in the water he was sailing through.

 

[snowleopard]

I do wonder at the number of times we see a poster asking for advice on choice of boat and the one thing they are determined to have is wheel steering, even on very small boats.

Possible reasons:

-They haven't got the hang of 'push left to go right'
-a really big wheel makes them feel macho


Or of course they could have more rational reassons like:

-it's really hard to arrange tiller steering with a remote hydraulic linkage
-it's nice to be able to let go of the helm without the rudder slamming hard over

 

[johnalison]

Disadvantage of a tiller: There isn't an elegant way of tying the helm amidships when at anchor or mooring.

Advantage of a tiller: You can steer the boat between your legs and still drink a cup of coffee/Bovril or what you wish.

 

[Danny Jo]

Designers and boatbuilders presumably favour wheel steering because that's what the punters want. I guess the punters want wheel steering because big boats have wheels and small boats have tillers, and having a wheel in a small boat allows one to imagine that your boat is bigger than it is.

Freestyle has a wheel, operating a skeg-hung rudder via cables and a conventional quadrant. Being able to lock it off at any position, or just stiffen the steering, is a definite bonus. But one can "lock off" a tiller at more or less any position, albeit less tidily, with a bungee cord arrangement.

The hydraulic ram for Freestyle's autopilot operates via its own cam on the rudder stock, and is completely independent of the wheel. So I don't regard the ability to flick on the autopilot as an advantage necessarily confined to wheel steering.

Freestyle's sister Sparkle has a tiller, operating a balanced spade rudder with no skeg. I was much more impressed by Sparkle's handling on the wind than I am by Freestyle's. I used to think that was because I'd done more sailing with a tiller than with a wheel, but 6000 miles on I still feel the same (although I may have been at the wheel for less than a third of that). One can get under the cover of the sprayhood during a squall without taking your hand off the tiller. And in harbour or at anchor one can swing the tiller up, leaving the cockpit clear and uncluttered.

It seems to me that the main disadvantage of a tiller on a 38-footer is the need to do without the security of the skeg in order to have a balanced spade configuration for the rudder to ensure that the force on the tiller is comfortably manageable. On a smaller boat that disadvantage does not apply; the tiller wins for me because of its mechanical simplicity and the contact it gives you with the water, sense of sail balance (weather/lee helm etc.) and immediate awareness of the angle of rudder.

 

[Ubergeekian]

Disadvantage of a tiller: There isn't an elegant way of tying the helm amidships when at anchor or mooring.

Eh? What about using a "piece of rope" and "tying" some "knots" in it? I can explain these technical terms if you want.

 

[Ubergeekian]

Why the steering wheels though?

Pose value for the marina-bound (as opposed to the marina bound) and more room for cocktail parties

 

[Ceejay]

Wheel versus Tiller

More than a hint of snobbery running through this thread methinks.......each to their own.
CJ

 

[sarabande]

one of my heroes, David Lewis of IceBird fame, created a whipstaff after he was knocked down for the umpteenth time in the Antarctic.

These vertical tillers are much under-rated devices, and could easily be built in on both sides of the cockpit and at the transom, leaving even more room for cucumber sandwiches, shortbread and cream teas.

I had one in a Cheverton launch in Cowes in the 60s, when Mr Heath was achieving great things with Owen Parker and Ian Lallow. We all took it for granted, but he was perplexed - too simple for his great mind.