For Fun: Helm Steer or Helm Tiller ?

[minaret]

Originally Posted by GaryMayo

Your post was not directed at me, but it is a thread I started, and I did not start it to get a response like yours.

Tiller AP's suck? Really? Who knew? OK, everyone with a tiller, sink your boats and report directly to the nearest marina where they only sell wheel helm sailboats. Don't let this happen again! Lol

I am offended at the harshness and narrow sightedness Of your post. Makes me wish I never started such a thread.

I apologize.

For the rest of us, continue on!

What a histrionic response to the truth! This is cruisers forum, not day sailers forum. If you plan on cruising far, a good reliable autopilot is worth its weight in gold. Do a search on this forum alone and note the legions of problems people have experienced with tiller pilots. They are simply not built for harsh conditions. A well balanced boat with a quality windvane and tiller steering can come close to the convenience and safety of a real autopilot, but most boats don't sail downwind well with a vane. And if equipment failure reduces you to hand steering alone in bad conditions for a long period of time (as it almost certainly will at the worst possible time if you go offshore with a tiller pilot for long), wrestling the tiller may exhaust you faster than a good wheel setup. This is a basic safety concern for anyone who seriously cruises far afield. Many people have and still do do it succesfully, but that doesn't mean its the best arrangement. If you have a choice, as you posited in the op, for a CRUISING boat a wheel is the superior setup. The market and almost all manufacturers clearly agree with me on this. I would like to know what is so harsh about stating this simple fact?

[Dennis.G]

I like tillers. They provide better feel and feedback, and just seem more fun.

That said, my current boat has a wheel, and it works fine. But you won't find many center cockpit boats with tillers!

[GypsyHawk]

I have a tiller so I prefer it. I had a wheel and so preferred it.

I also have a Monitor windvane and a Raymarine tiller pilot that have both kept me on course and remained robust and (mostly) trouble free in some fairly heavy conditions. And in these conditions I would not have been able to steer the boat for more than an hour by tiller alone...

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

for fun? a tiller no doubt

You get more feedback from the boat through a tiller.

[carstenb]

Here goes: I've had tiller and wheel . I now have have dual wheels (just to get this discussion moving right along.

You do have greater feel with a tiller. For long hand steering I prefer the wheel. For big wide ´boats (like mine) I prefer two wheels for comfort.

How's that for a politicians answer? Makes everybody happy

[GaryMayo]

Originally Posted by boatsail

You started a great thread and I truly want to see the opinions if others who have more experience with both than I have. I have experience with both, but much more with tillers. I lean towards then for simplicity and open cockpit along with ease of hooking up the tiller pilot. Just got my Tyler pilot hooked up last week and enjoying more than I could have imagined.

Thanks for the post. !!!

I obtained a couple of tiller autopilots when I purchased a 32 foot tiller sailboat, but I have never used them. My lake is the size of a small farm, 1800 acres, and I never sail alone, so an autopilot is just not something I need.

I ended up purchasing a second 32 a week later in better condition with helm wheel so using first 32 for a parts boat. My 32 tiller spent 7 month in the gulf of Mexico cris crossing that large body of water so on that case, an autopilot would be very handy. The owner sailed alone and used a remote control sometimes to change heading so he could be anywhere on the sailboat. I think that feature would be very handy. So much so, I have contemplated adding a tiller handle to be able to use my raysmarine 2000.

[Tony B]

I enjoy the feeling of a tiller better than a wheel. Kinda like I like a stick shift car on slippery roads better than an automatic. I can feel the boat better. That's on nice sailing days. In rough weather, a tiller will wear you out much faster. Once you get past a 30 foot boat, the tiller becomes less practical for this reason.
Also note that from my experiences, most women don't like tillars because it confuses them. It's the thinking in reverse thing. Then again, women accuse men of backwards thinking. That is just my personal experience and others will vary.

[capn_billl]

I prefer a wheel, but right now I am using a tiller. If my next boat has a wheel, I will install a tiller as backup.

There is nothing like a large board with a stick bolted on the stern for reliability.

[carstenb]

Well tony B

How can you have a problem understanding women?

I am the master in my house and I do exactly what I please. As soon as my wife tells what it is I please - I go do it.

What's to misunderstand?

[rtbates]

I have and vote for tiller...

You, on the other hand, appear to have a center cockpit vessel..

CP make tiller steering a tad hard to do..

[Cheechako]

I think the original post asked "for fun". Not for a dissertation on world cruising with a tiller or wheel...

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I think the original post asked "for fun". Not for a dissertation on world cruising with a tiller or wheel...

The wording and use of a colon leads me to believe the request for the relative merits of the two was for fun, not which method of steering is more fun. If that was the intended question it was poorly asked. And a single paragraph does not a dissertation make, at least not to me.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I think the original post asked "for fun". Not for a dissertation on world cruising with a tiller or wheel...

Ditto

Originally Posted by minaret

If you plan on cruising far, a good reliable autopilot is worth its weight in gold.

minaret, I agree with you, and as soon as I can get this molten lead to change into gold I will be buying a wheel pilot. Meanwhile the cost effective solutions wins.

Pete

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Ditto



minaret, I agree with you, and as soon as I can get this molten lead to change into gold I will be buying a wheel pilot. Meanwhile the cost effective solutions wins.

Pete

LOL!! Agree with that. The manufacturers clearly think they are worth their weight in gold too...

[Adelie]

Fan of the tiller.