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Tiller vs. wheel

8K views 34 replies 21 participants last post by  jadkkd 
#1 ·
I have been looking into some daysailors. Everything I've looked at has had a tiller. All sailboats I've had or sailed has had a wheel. I'm wondering if going out on a 3 hour sail with a tiller will get to be a pain after a while?
 
#2 ·
Go with a tiller

I can't imagine why it would be a pain. "Daysailer" implies a relatively confined cockpit, and a tiller will occupy a lot less of that smaller space than a wheel and pedestal. I think that most will also agree that you'll have a better "feel" for the boat and its trim with a tiller.

It may take a day sail or two to get used to it ... I learned with a tiller, and the first time I sailed a boat with a wheel I instinctively wanted to turn the wheel in the direction I was accustomed to pushing the tiller (instead of transferring the experience of steering a car). Kept falling off when I wanted to head up and vice versa. But I'm a little slow, too. :)

Kurt
 
#4 ·
Having recently moved from a 28' with tiller to a 34' with wheel I can heartily recommend the tiller. Over 35-40' the tiller becomes somewhat impractical but for simplicity and feel you cannot beat them in a smaller craft.
 
#5 ·
I have a 32ft with a tiller,

At first I was disappointed as I wanted the "feel" of a bigger boat. I'm glad I got the tiller. I agree totally with poltergeist and mstern, you not only get a better feel you also gain way more space. If you really want it you can also get a reasonably priced autopilot. I have one but I find that I only use it occasionally for the longer trips (more that 4 hrs in the same direction)..
 
#7 ·
At the risk of being a contrarian, I believe that it's a wash. IMHO, both the tiller and wheel allow for plenty of feel. On a 28' and now a 38' boat (and others too), I have no problem feeling rudder pressure. I don't have any problem adjusting rudder angle in anticipation of a lift or header by sensing wind variance through sound and feel. I guess that's what they call boat-feel. I grew up sailing all kinds of tiller-ed boats and I guess that by now either is just as easy. IHMO, I really believe that while in operation, a wheel actually takes much less cockpit space because the sweep of the rudder is avoided. Pierside, the tiller wins for space efficiency.

Don't worry about the tiller, you'll get used to it quickly. Don't forget - you can use your feet and legs to steer too!
 
#8 ·
I grew up with the tiller! I guess it is the same thing as everything else it all depends what you are comfortable with. Anyone can learn something new, everyone deserves the right to get smarter or learn another way.
 
#9 ·
Boats have steering wheels?!?!?!?!?!?! I have yet to sail a boat with a wheel, other than a stink pot! Not sure that that counts.

Next boat may have a wheel, but even so, I do like a tiller, even on my 29'r. IIRC< in 06 or 07, ALL but one TP52 being built had a tiller! Vs previous yrs, all but one had a wheel!

Daysailers will typically have tillers, easier to rig up and down vs trying to rig a wheel to a rudder. A tiller needs one bolt if not two for larger ones.

Marty
 
#10 ·
I love tillers due to the tactile response, the mechanical simplicity and the fact you can steer with your arse crack while you trim the main or handle a sheet.

Add to that the ability to put it vertical at dock or anchor and to lay out a plank with drinks and snacks across the cockpit at the very place a pedestal and wheel would go, and you've got a winner. Also, if you trim the sails properly, you can rig self-steering on a tiller with a small clamp, a sheet and some shock cord...no amps, no problem.

I have two wheels and an OPTIONAL tiller on the new boat, and the tiller will have a real role in combination with the windvane and some line and small blocks offshore, as I can bypass the hydraulic steering of the wheel set-up.

I think the break point for me is about 35 feet, but I would suggest it depends on your size, your interest in riding the coaming with an extension instead of aft, and your provision for auto piloting.

Actually, the "system" I like the best is about extinct: a small wheel mounted "backwards" where the helmsman is forward of the pedestal/binnacle.

Like this, only smaller in most old boats:

 
#24 ·
Actually, the "system" I like the best is about extinct: a small wheel mounted "backwards" where the helmsman is forward of the pedestal/binnacle.

Like this, only smaller in most old boats:

There is a boat in the slip next to ours, I think it's an Island Packet (?), that has a similar setup. Wheel's much smaller and nearly at the back of the cockpit, but much the same concept. Looks intriguing. It'd be interesting to feel what sailing that would be like.

Jim
 
#11 ·
I never thought about steering with my "arse". That wins me over! I'm sure I will get comfortable with the tiller. I've always had a wheel on bigger boats so the tiller just seems backwards, but the J100(just under 33 ft) I'm looking at will surely work out fine.
 
#13 ·
My $0.02

Tillers are typically on smaller boats and wheels on larger boats. In some cases race boats opt with a tiller in the larger boats as well until the boat reaches a size where the forces on the tiller are too great and the gearing of a wheel is preferable (I suppose gearing on a tiller is also possible but have not seen it).

Daysailor implies small boat. Small boats typically have tillers so I would stick with that.

To me the breakpoint where a wheel actually works is between 27 and 35 feet. I have seen a very few 27 footers where the wheel works but ostly these boats should have a tilelr and the wheel is a contrived device to make the boat seem more like a bigger boat to a would be buyer. In the smaller boats the pressures do not make the wheel necessary over a tiller and a wheel usually takes up a lot of the cockpit space making it difficult for the helsman to get forward of the wheel without walking on the seats in the cockpit. Also the teeny wheels on 26/27 foot boats look a bit silly and are not as responsive as the bigger wheels.

IMO if I were to sail a boat with a wheel I would want a big wheel that when sailing upwind would be sailed by holding one of the spokes and watching the sails. A small wheel would make sitting on the low side watching your headsail a bit difficult whereas a tiller with an extension or a larger wheel make this a very pleasurable experience.

OTOH the Americas Cup boats are day sailors and they have two wheels!

Mike
 
#14 ·
We have all probably done it, but when you try to streer a compass course looking down at the compass facing the stern and using the wheel in reverse. Now that messes with your mind.
 
#15 ·
"What you do with your tiller is your business. Just don't hurt yourself."
...or the hamster! (g)

Actually...I like a tiller in a small boat. Rather than an auto-pilot, I used to use the Davis Tiller Tamer to give myself a break or to hold a course while adjusting the sheets...instead of my butt!
 
#16 ·
Agree with others

A tiller will give more of a "feel" of the boat, while a wheel will free up a little more room in the cockpit.

If you do daysailing in a smaller boat (22 to 32 ft) a lot and do so with friends and not just yourself and possibly another (spouse, SO, etc.) then cockpit room will be come important and the tiller maybe a PITA. Remember, you really can't sit behind the till to use it effectively.

If you just daysail with yourself (solo) or with one or two others, the cockpit room is less of an issue. The other nice thing about a tiller it is simpler and less complex than the wheel steering mechanism. Even if the tiller handle breaks, a pole (boat hook, paddle,or similar) can be rigged to give you control again.

The wheel is nice in that it frees up some space in the cockpit and is "easier" to use for the "non-sailor". My wife has yet to grasp the tiller concept, but has no problem at the helm of our wheel-steered boat. When guests come aboard who are not experienced and take the helm, it is much like driving a car for them. I turn the wheel in the direction I want to turn.

I learned to sail on a tiller boat, so I am comfortable with that. Although I find that sometimes I have tiller-itus on our Wheel-steered boat when I sailing from the leeward side of the boat. I occasionally pull the wheel towards me when I want the boat to turn away from me.

DrB
 
#17 ·
Another thing I love about tillers - you can always tell exactly where the rudder is pointed - right away. You don't have to turn a wheel all the way until it stops, and then bring it back to figure out where it's centered. Yes, you can add a rudder position indicator (for a lot of money) to your wheel steered vessel.
 
#20 ·
Yes, you can add a rudder position indicator (for a lot of money) to your wheel steered vessel.
I simply used a piece of White Electrical tape to show dead ahead.
The white tape doesn't look too bad on the black leather wheel.

Also, our Auto pilot indicates rudder angle.
But it is a lot harder to read.

I do want to replace the tape with a turk's head.
Hey dog, can you come to Michigan and tie a Turk's head on my helm.
 
#18 ·
In addition to your arse, you can use yur knee, foot, hip, forehead (thats an emergency procdure reserved for when you have dropped a full beer in the cockpit, don't try it till you've had some practice) and elbow. These techniques are somewhat more difficult with a wheel (especially the forehead bit, which can result in serious rash or even death if you get caught in the spokes). Go tiller!
 
#19 ·
When I was a kid, we had a little trimaran (scale model of a bigger boat) that had a wheel mounted flat on the deck to one side of the cockpit. It had a fair amount of friction on it so it was pretty much always "tamed". I had a heck of a time the first time I sailed with a tiller because I was used to being abel to let go and deal wth other things all the time and would do that without thinking.
 
#26 ·
I had a boat with a tiller for over 20 years. Now I have a CSY33 with a wheel. I wish it had a tiller! I miss the feel of the tiller, the pressure of the water against the rudder. But I also miss being able to slide up under the dodger while steering. With a long tiller, and reaching slightly back, I was well protected from sun, spray, rain. But with the wheel, I am stuck at the very back of the cockpit exposed to everything. I can have a dodger made with a long bimini addition perhaps. But it will not be as neat, nor as effective.

I also wish I could change the way the wheel works. I'd like to spin the wheel in the direction I want the stern to move, the same way a tiller works. After two and a half decades, that's the way my brain thinks. I can consciously override that. But when I am tired, I slip back.
 
#27 · (Edited)
I also wish I could change the way the wheel works. I'd like to spin the wheel in the direction I want the stern to move, the same way a tiller works. After two and a half decades, that's the way my brain thinks. I can consciously override that. But when I am tired, I slip back.
I think Giu started a thread on this, we had alot of fun with it:D

edit: found it if interested
 
#28 ·
The funny thing is that Giulietta is one of the few 40 footers I can think of that could be run with a long tiller. I enjoyed the "big wheels", but it's a light-enough boat to have a tiller without getting overwhelmed by the rudder pressure.

The cockpit and mainsheet as designed, however, are strictly wheel-friendly.

Here's another big tiller boat, an Open 60 doing a rollover test:



I saw this boat last week at a local club. It is phenomenally large (about a 20 foot beam at the stern) and the thought of one man helming it in the Southern Ocean is among the most impressive things I can imagine.
 
#29 ·
IMHO, the size of the boat isn't so important to whether a tiller can be used as the design is. A properly designed boat, that is well-shaped and balanced can generally be steered with a tiller.
 
#33 ·
This debate can go beyond simply steering the boat however. If a person wants to mount one of the current offerings of Marine Electronics such as chartplotter/radar, etc. at the helm, a tiller steered boat is somewhat limited as to where you can mount such an item. Having electronics at the Nav station doesn't help much when you are sailing shorthanded in fog. The steering pedestal in wheel steering can also be a good place to mount engine controls, drink holders, VHF and other items that seem to get used in the cockpit but rarely have places to put them.
 
#35 ·
tiller vs wheel

I was on a demo sail for a few hours on the J100. When sailing the boat and sitting on the coaming there wasn't anyplace to put your feet for leverage. I see this as a bit of a design flaw. Sure you could sit in the cockpit but the line of sight is so much better from the coaming. The boat did have lifelines but having your feet resting on top of the cockpit seat didn't give you any leverage, after a while my back was sore.
 
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