Tiller versus wheel

[Sea Hunt Video]

As our northern brothers and sisters begin the process of hauling out their beloved Cape Dory sailboats and putting them to bed for the winter months I thought it might be "helpful" [ ] to rekindle a debate that has raged on this board for years. While sitting by a warm hearth, sipping a hot toddy, one can discuss the allure of a tiller over a wheel, or the simple functionality of a tiller over a wheel.

http://www.practical-sailor.com/blog/Ti ... ints090215

Let the "debate" begin anew

[joemerchant]

Why debate it? Like the boat itself, it is a personal choice. It was one think I liked about the old Beneteau Evasion as it had a wheel in the house and a tiller aft. You could go either way.

[John Stone]

Tiller all the way. For all the reasons stated by PS as well as by thousands of others over the years. But, it's great that we each get to choose. Though a wheel seems to be the standard these days on boats as small as 30 feet it would be nice if a tiller was at least an option on boats out to 40-45'.

[tjr818]

Why debate it? Like the boat itself, it is a personal choice. It was one think I liked about the old Beneteau Evasion as it had a wheel in the house and a tiller aft. You could go either way.

How weird is this

4870600_20141107085358688_1_XLARGE.jpg

[Paul Clayton]

I prefer a tiller, and I'm in the process of selling my CD25 to buy a larger boat. I've seen plenty of CD30s with tillers, but nothing larger. Did they build any of the 32-36 range with tillers? If so, that would be on my short list for a new boat.

Edit - now that I'm logged in, I see the picture of Far Reach with a tiller. My kind of boat!

[John Stone]

When we started looking for a CD 36 in 2000 I talked to Dave Perry at Robinhood about a tiller equipped 36. He told me Cape Dory never made one. We had to make the conversion ourselves. I can't speak for the other models.

[gates_cliff]

Why debate it? Like the boat itself, it is a personal choice. It was one think I liked about the old Beneteau Evasion as it had a wheel in the house and a tiller aft. You could go either way.

How weird is this

4870600_20141107085358688_1_XLARGE.jpg

Maybe a permanently mounted emergency tiller?

[Steve Laume]

What I find really weird in that picture is that the center mark on the wheel is at the top center, while the tiller is hard over.

I sailed on a Danish motor sailor that had a comfy pilot house with wheel steering. You could disengage it and go to the tiller in the cockpit. The tiller was nice but you couldn't see very well with the pilot house in the way. If you were motoring the diesel fumes would sometimes collect back there as well. It might have been a great boat for the North Sea but wasn't such a hot set up for LIS.

I don't think wheel steering is the least complicated and most reliable form of steering or that it gives you the best feel for the boat. That said, the greatest advantage is that it is mounted on a pedestal. That puts the compass in the center of the boat and right in front of the helmsman. This makes it very easy to read and also allows you to move around the binnacle to take sights off the main steering compass. This is also a great place for a chart plotter to be mounted where it is easily seen and at your finger tips to make changes while steering in tight quarters. The central and secure handhold that the pedestal guard affords is the most valuable aspect of wheel steering.

Most of the time I am hand steering, I am standing with one hand on the guard and the other on the wheel. I can easily glance at the compass while fussing with the chart plotter if I feel the need. When things are tight, I want to be standing up for the best visibility and I don't want the compass and plotter mounted way up on the bulkhead where they are hard to read and impossible to reach. If it is rough, I can still stand with a wide stance and a good handhold or sit to one side and steer from there.

It isn't so much about wheel vs tiller steering as it is about a pedestal with a binnacle mounted compass and a good central handhold, Steve.

[Astronomertoo]

I agree with Steve on the comfort, visability, and ease of steering a larger sailboat with a wheel, with the compass and instruments easily readable, and in line with the bow.
I have sailed smaller boats like my own CD25 with tillers and am happy to do so. Tillers are quick, easy to steer, and very basic, ie, almost bullet proof. However there is inherently less comfort while sailing that way, at least on my boats. This is because the helmsman must typically be in one location where you can sit kind of sideways, with one arm to the tiller, and the body at an angle that causes discomfort to the neck and shoulders while trying to see the instruments, and where you are going, unless you are using an autopilot. After 6 years with a wheel centered in front of a comfortable seat cushion it can be difficult to go back to the tiller, although it can be more fun. Which is what this is about, fun. But turning half sideways with no back support can make for a sore back, neck and shoulders, there is the little matter of line of reference on the bow, while steering a compass course. I do not think I would like steering a boat that had a wheel, like some of the CD30s have, where you still must always sit beside the wheel, like a tiller, thus all the same comfort and visual alignment issues with using a tiller. Obviously on larger boats, you do often sit beside the wheel while looking under the sails, or just over the wet leeward rail, but it is not the 100% requirement.
But we do what we must, as no one is making us sail these nice little boats.
Bob C

[John Stone]

Well, to further the discussion some more--I find the wheel and pedestal, to me, add clutter to the cockpit. It limits where one can sit and steer. You can't get up under the dodger, if you have one, when spray is coming on board to steer like you can with a tiller. The wheel adds weight and complexity to the steering system and windvane. It puts holes in the cockpit sole with the potential to leak into confined spaces and onto an inboard engine, if you have one. As for adding instruments to the pedestal . . . exactly. More complexity in the cockpit to distract the skipper and crew from what is going on outside the boat. To my eye, a chart plotter on top of the pedestal detracts from the lovely lines of the Cape Dory. Might as well have a contemporary ultra modern euro looking boat. As for using the compass, nothing is easier than using a bulkhead mounted compass. Olympic class boats, all kinds of offshore racing boats, and legendary cruising boats have been using them for decades. I don't think using the binnacle compass for shooting resections would be very accurate. I think you are much better served with a hand bearing compass. Wheels do make it less fatiguing to sail a boat with a bad case of weather helm but it is often a crutch for failing to address weather helm in the first place. With a tiller you will be required to learn about balancing the sails and the boat will sail better for it.

I don't think a tiller is less comfortable (for me anyway) to use than a wheel if you are steering from the side as you often do with a wheel. And, with a tiller you can stand up and steer from the cockpit sole or by standing up on the seat top. Wonderful view steering while standing on the seats with a hand on the boom. Easy to see over the dodger. Sitting behind the wheel you have all that stuff in front of you blocking your view of a great sweeping maritime vista. You can add a tiller extension if you like and that gives the skipper a few more options for position.

Nonetheless, for reasons I clearly don't don't understand, it seems many sailors love the wheel. And so it goes.
Thank goodness we can still chose what we like -- as it should be. Perhaps this is enough of a diatribe to keep the conversation going through the winter.

Seriously, all personal opinions aside, I think it's great we are all are getting out sailing, on any boat, tiller or wheel equipped, diesel or gas outboard, dodger or not, sextant or GPS. We own and sail some great boats. It's a terrific forum, fraternity, and sailing family. I look forward to crossing wakes with y'all.

[drysuit2]

All comes down to personal preferences.

Wheel:
You like to entertain, or have more than 3 people in the cockpit
You use your engine, while out "sailing", or to approach your mooring, or dock

Tiller:
You sail.
Never use your engine.
Rarely have guests on board.

My personal preference is for a tiller. It just feels right to me. I like the instant feedback. I just hate wheels.
But that doesn't mean I don't "accidentally" whack my poor wife in the knees at least once a season.
[Gee I wonder if that's why I end up sailing alone; a lot.]

[John Stone]

Tiller:
You sail.
Never use your engine.
Rarely have guests on board.

I don't understand this, so you must be pulling my leg.

[fmueller]

Can't imagine my CD 27 with a wheel, could never have imagined my Dad's Hinkley SW 42 without the wheel.

Tillers suit smaller boats for sure, first of all because the cockpits are just too small for a wheel anyway ...

I like that I can steer with idle body parts (legs, knees, butt etc) and crank in the jib, apply sun screen, use the binos, flip thru charts and so forth ... on a nice light day I can stand chin resting on arms, arms resting on the dodger, tiller between the knees ... these moments are my idea of paradise ...

Bigger boats become a lot to handle without a wheel ... I think if I had a 36 I'd like her to have a wheel ... tillers are a little "all over the place", I think you tend to to stay on course a bit better with a wheel, and that is a good thing in a larger boat.

[Paul D.]

If I had a boat with a tiller, I'd steer by tiller. If I had a boat with a wheel, I'd steer by wheel.

[Joe Myerson]

Can't imagine my CD 27 with a wheel.

Actually, some 27s have wheels. "Good News ," once owned by my friend and neighbor Ted Rose, was such a boat. When I was sailing her and had to move quickly, my brain would revert to tiller mode, and I would turn the wheel in the wrong direction for a split second.

I prefer a tiller, but that's because I have only owned tiller-steered boats.

Comes down to what you're used to.

--Joe