Wheel or tiller on Cape Dory 27

Discussions about Cape Dory, Intrepid and Robinhood sailboats and how we use them. Got questions? Have answers? Provide them here.

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VegaIII
Posts: 24
Joined: Jan 22nd, '07, 10:05
Location: Cape Dory 27 #109
Vega III
Charlotte, VT

Vega III CD-27 with wheel

Post by VegaIII »

My CD-27 #109 has a wheel. I've owned her since 1993 and cruised her all around the NE coast. I chose a wheel version originally because I had small children and I figured in a small cockpit the wheel option would work out better. Would I have preferred a tiller? Yes. However, I am now so used to her the way she is I cannot imagine it otherwise.

I now have three grandchildren under six and find that the wheel option works well again for the reasons cited above.

I also have a Dyer sailing dinghy as a tender so that the kids can learn to sail in that. It doesn't have a wheel.
Bob Condon
Posts: 56
Joined: May 10th, '05, 12:18
Location: 1979 Cape Dory 28' Intrepid

28" cape dory intrepid

Post by Bob Condon »

I have a wheel on Really Muggy and like it very much. I sailed the same boat with a tiller in Maine and did not find it as relaxing as having a wheel.

I like the wheel very much!

Really Muggy is for sale in Salem Harbor, Mass as we are in fresh water in Maine with a smaller boat
Bob Condon
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winthrop fisher
Posts: 837
Joined: Feb 7th, '05, 17:52
Location: Typhoon Wk 75 "Easy Rider" &
cd 22 "Easy Rider Sr" 84

Post by winthrop fisher »

both wheel and tiller were both used on the CD27...
Win
North Branch
Posts: 59
Joined: Sep 14th, '09, 21:51
Location: Cape Dory 27 NORTH STAR, Hull #197
Onancock, VA

CD 27 Tiller or Wheel

Post by North Branch »

Our CD 27 has a tiller, and it is one of the main reasons I bought the boat. My previous boats had tillers, and I prefer a tiller to a wheel. I can feel the boat better and to me it is part of sailing. I've sailed similar-sized boats with a wheel and find wheels too static. With a tiller you can sit in different places in the cockpit, stand up (even on the cockpit seats for better visibility when motoring in a calm), and reach into the companionway. You can steer with your hands or feet. Your weight is further forward in rough weather.

When anchored or at the dock, you can lift the tiller up and lash it to the main sheet to provide more room in the cockpit. A wheel will give you more room in the cockpit when sailing, but less room when in port. Since we do mostly daysailing, weekends, and cruises up to two weeks on Chesapeake Bay, I find a tiller more enjoyable. If we were doing long distance ocean sailing on a bigger boat, I'd probably prefer a wheel. Let me know if you have any other questions about the CD 27. It is a great boat!
North Branch, Onancock, VA

"Of all man-made things there is nothing so lovely as a sailboat. It is a living thing with a soul and feelings." H.A. Calahan
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