CD28 wheel to tiller conversion

[DRAKES]

I have owned a typhoon and cd25 in the past but have owned a Bristol 24 now for about 3 years. Thinking about going to a CD28. It has wheel steering. Found a couple previous wheel to tiller conversions here on a 31 and a 36 good info. Was hoping maybe someone here had experience or info more specific to the 28. Thanks in advance. Steve

[Maine_Buzzard]

Wow- I almost thought the wheel model 28s were fairly rare.

Any chance you can keep shopping for a tiller model? You'll be adding $1500-2000 to the price for the work to get it all done. New rudder stock, maybe a new rudder in the process, you need to remove the rudder stuffing box and run the rudder tube to the deck with a bearing collar. Weight is carried on the shoe, the collar carries the lateral loads.

Glasswork on the sole to remove the pedestal hole and a nice new tiller autopilot.

Plenty of work, budget 80 hours to do it yourself if you have glass experience.

9 CD 28s on Yachtworld, Searchtempest.com turns up another 10 or so... Find the best boat that meets your needs without requiring a three month project right off the bat... IMHO.

Internet advice is worth what you pay for...

[John Stone]

I agree with Maine Buzzard though he is only partially correct. You won't need a new rudder. You won't need to remove the rudder stuffing box. You will need to get a rudder post clamping sleeve from Edson Marine. You will need a rudder post extension that will need precise machining. You will need a tiller head and of course a tiller. You will need a rudder post cover plate. You will need to do a bunch of glass work. If the wheel steering is in good shape you can sell it and off set the cost a bit.

You might be able to do it without dropping the rudder.

It requires a lot of planning and organizational skill. Most of it you can do yourself except the machine work, unless you have access to metal machine equipment and know how to use it. You are probably looking a $1500-$2000 in just parts and supplies. I never worry about the cost of my time--that's a dead end line of thinking. If you do you will talk yourself out of any DIY work. But you do need to think about the length of time it will take, multiply that by at least three and decide if you are willing to spend that kind of time doing boat work instead of sailing. I was, but not every one is.

It's a long project with a lot of messy sometimes difficult work. And with so many tiller CD 28s to choose from you have to really ask yourself why you should buy a boat that requires such a big project just to get started. Maybe there are lots of reasons--good reasons. But that a decision you have to make. Having done a tiller conversion, well worth it in my opinion, I would not do it again if I had a tiller CD 36 boat available. But, so far as I know, I have the only tiller CD 36 in the world.

If you decide to do it I'd be happy to share what i learned.

[mgphl52]

wow Was a wheel really a factory option on the CD28
If so, I sure hope it included mid-boom sheeting on the main

And I must say, that in all of my 50+ years of sailing,
I have never seen a tiller-boat carry an emergency-wheel...