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Installing a wheel to my Southern Cross 31.

1K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  mikemalone815 
#1 ·
Good day SC31 owners!
I'm really thinking about installing wheel steering to my boat, has anyone done this and what is your recommendations to get the best results. I want to install the wheel close to the companion way so my winches are behind me and I'm close to my lines and winches on the cabin as well my instruments can be viewed. This beautiful boat is new to me and my first double ender Any thoughts or pros and cons are helpful. Thanks everyone!
 
#3 ·
I have to ask, why? You have one of the safest, strongest, most seaworthy rudder conformations that can possibly exist, and you want to cobble together a wheel steering mechanism that will do nothing for you. To me, traditional boats like this are a mixed bag, but there is nothing "mixed" about the strength or utility of the stern hung rudder with a tiller.
 
#4 ·
Are you going singlehanded? A wheel will take the space of at least two people in the cockpit. The cockpit looks barely big enough to fit a binnacle and wheel and still have space to stand behind it. Getting to the cabintop winches might require using a wheel that was smaller than optimal for rudder control. You would likely want a guard rail in front of the wheel so people coming up the companionway could grab hold of it instead of the wheel, too. That could make coming going below or coming up from below somewhat of an obstacle course. As Denise suggests, how are you going to attach a quadrant to an outboard rudder like that? The narrow stern of the hull may not provide space for it there, and cutting through the sternpost may not be a good idea either, so the quadrant may need to be attached on the outside or top of the rudder. Rudder quadrants are not generally designed to be seen, so the aesthetics of the setup with cables and threaded terminals could be really bad. If you want to sit forward, a tiller extension or hiking stick would be a lot easier to add than a wheel, and several thousand dollars cheaper.
 
#5 ·
My Contest 31 has a wheel, and I'm planning on converting to tiller at some point. But the thing is, the cockpit is designed for wheel steering - it has wooden fold up seats on either side of the wheel to allow easy passage forward and back, and is more spacious knowing that the wheel takes up a lot of room. Your cockpit is designed around a tiller, where the helmsman is seated on one or the other cockpit lockers, not at the stern of the boat.

And if you move the wheel forward so that the winches are behind you, you won't be able to access the companionway without greasing your hips.
 
#6 ·
Hi Mike,

Edson Marine seems to be one of the go to places for steering systems. They do have some design/data sheets for other Southern Cross models, but I did not see one for the SC 31. Still it might be worth checking with them to see what they have and recommend for your boat. Here's their design outline for a SC 39:

Rectangle Slope Font Triangle Parallel


Edson Marine​
146 Duchaine Blvd​
New Bedford, MA 02745​
United States of America​
(508) 995-9711​

Good luck!

Red
 
#8 ·
There are a few other options for wheel steering besides cable and quadrant there is worm drive often times used with a smaller wheel on a reverse helm like oftentimes seen in traditional boats and double Enders also there's a push-pull system and which case there would be cables or push pull apparatus going through to transom to the rudder and the rudder tiller handle will become your emergency tiller
 
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