Bristol Channel Cutter Wheel Steering Instead of Tiller

[iliohale]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

I watched the video & you have done really beautiful work. The boat is spectacular & I doubt there is a finer example anywhere. One thing I noticed about the tiller is how removing it really opens up the small cockpit. Obviously something you could not accomplish with wheel steering.

Exactly, one of the great things about it. In the video my buddy Wayne talks about a nice table he built that makes it great to dine in the cockpit. You could not do that with a wheel in the way. But also, one of the great things I have found is the ability to stand in the cockpit with the tiller between your legs so that you can control the boat and have your hands free to put in your pockets if it is cold or to work the lines. On this boat, tiller is the only way to go.

Gary

[iliohale]

And even another reason to keep the tiller, the BCC is perfect for a High/Low cockpit grate where you can cover over the well for outside sleeping.

Gary

[Scout 30]

Another great thing about tillers is you can stand on a seat or coaming & steer with one foot. If the dinghy is on the cabin or visibility is poor this can be quite handy.

[barnakiel]

BCC has a specific cockpit layout that may not too easily lend itself to a wheel.

Probably build a mock prior to buying the real kit.

b.

[Terra Nova]

Unsubscribed.

[Snowpetrel]

Wow, not very often we get such a unanimous vote! Id like to know why the OP wants a wheel? Maybe BCC's are a touch heavy on the helm at times?

[first wind]

Originally Posted by Snowpetrel

Wow, not very often we get such a unanimous vote! Id like to know why the OP wants a wheel? Maybe BCC's are a touch heavy on the helm at times?

if that was the case, changing to a wheel wouldn't fix the problem. it would only hide it. if it's got too much weather helm, you need to trim it in right. actually fix the problem instead of hide it.

can't answer for him but, i know a number of people who like wheels because it's like driving a car. i have never owned a boat with a wheel but, i had a chance to sail with a guy in his 30 foot hunter and it had a wheel. i didn't like it. tiller's the way to go. better feel for what the boat is doing. the tiller always shows you exactly where the rudder points. less to go wrong. better all around.

perhaps he thinks it will make his cockpit seem roomier not having it bisected by a tiller? of course, if he ever gets swamped he will be glad for that small cockpit.

maybe it just seems more 'nautical' to steer by the ship's wheel. lol

[picklesandjesse]

Seems that Tillers Rule !!!!

[Snowpetrel]

I am a bit of a diehard tiller man, and I was going to convert my 2 tonner to tiller. But I must say I have come to like steering with the big wheel and the very smooth cable system. It does obstruct the cockpit, but it works well on a 40 footer with room for a big wheel in a big cockpit. Ive also sailed a 52 foot steel boat with a tiller. Worked well enough.

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[sully75]

I believe you can make a very simple trim tab self steering ala Larry Pardey's design with a tiller and that outboard rudder. That's a huge advantage.

[Zach]

Edson still makes some rack and pinion steering systems for transom hung rudders.

Your steering wheel ends up at the aft end of the cockpit, rather than on a pedestal, which wouldn't look entirely out of place in a BCC as that style is contemporary to the design. Bronze, bomb proof... If you mount it above deck, and made another lazarette hatch, I don't think there would be any holes to fill in the gel coat if you want to go back to a tiller.

http://www.edsonmarine.com/tradition...Catalog_T1.pdf

One is for sale on here for $1000... If it is still around: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...er-123551.html

[Scout 30]

I have to admit a ship's wheel can be a thing of beauty. While I do love our bronze & teak Edson wheel my favorite is the classic painted cast iron wheel of yore. Edson makes a new version of it that the call the Character Wheel that really looks great.

Traditional Yacht Wheels : Edson Marine Store

[reed1v]

For those folks who think they have too much weather helm here is a tip: First check the mast's foot. some have a half moon metal plate fitted to the bottom(Cheoy Lees for example). That allows you to rake the mast aft. Raking the mast aft even two degrees from vertical will remove some weather helm. You can fit a plate to the bottom if one is not already there.
This is mostly a problem with ketch and yawl configurations.


Sometimes you will see boats with a lot of rake which indicates a hull that really wants to round up into the wind. Farther aft you rake, the less weather helm. Rake it enough and it will have lee helm(not good).

Itod, captains use to rake their masts according to how much cargo they were stowing and where stowed. Look at old photos. In harbor most masts are vertical. At sea, they are raked, sometimes severely so. Deeper the hull, more it wants to head into the wind. Old timers would go off soundings and fuss with the rake for different loads so they would have a good idea how to adjust the masts in port for the loads they were to carry.

[etesian]

Why not add some stern davits while your at it. 👎


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[Splash Gordon]

I've got a spare BCC if you need one once you've practiced on yours!
It would be like putting chrome mags on a classic Bentley!



But...


If you HAVE TO, then put a fwd-facing wheel on a wheelbox at the rear coaming of the cockpit so that one sort of snuggles against the box, and then fit a set of hydraulics in the box so you can run a <30" wooden spoked wheel with a cylinder pushing fwd/aft on a little tiller arm sticking sideways on the rudder, or as the OP mentioned above, by all means fit some Edson solutions!
You absolutely have to keep a nice boat looking the way Neptune intended all boats to look, and sexy boats don't need bolt-ons!