Single vs. Dual Steering Wheels?

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by Weyalan

You ought to be able to see the tell-tales up the luff, at least the lower and mid ones, anyway, which is what the helmsman "drives" off (assuming you are going for pointing). The tell-tales further aft and further up are of interest only to the headsail trimmer. As helmsman you don't need to see the whole headsail. Steering from the low side you do get a good look at the headsail, but you can't see the mainsail telltales, nor masthead windex. Additonally, you can't see the breeze to windward, which is vital for steering into lifts and knocks.

On balance, I'll take high side every time (except at mark roundings, sometimes ).

I've always taken high side out of habit from running with a tiller vs wheel. Besides, it hard to see what's in your path (floatsom) when on the low side. Around here we have to worry about logs and other river trash.

[swagman]

Hi All,
Guess its not stragne we all have differing views.
I've enjoyed single tillers, dueal tillers, single wheels, dual wheels. They all looked fine. They all worked fine. Did not feel like a poser using any.
In my case Wayalen sums up why I like anything that can get me high side when beating - in cruise or race mode. And when parked up the advantages of two smaller wheeels over having to remove one large one can't be argued with.
And finally, when most people major on the safety aspects when at sea - having two sets of linkages does not really double the trouble, but it could provide a back up that can be immediately used.
Cheers
JOHN

[Splash Gordon]

Originally Posted by Curtis

Besides opening up access via the swim platform, I find that it does a good job of keeping guests out of the way and allows me to see whatever I need to see. I can cross the entire aft end of the cockpit, from rail to rail, and have my hand on the wheel the whole time.

The whole deal with wheels is the torque issue. If you have a big wheel, you need fewer turns in your steering system. The Corel-style wheels running in pits meant that the helmsman could be on either side of the boat at will.
However, on a cruiser, a piece of real-estate-sized gear like a nprmal 36" wheel in the middle of the cockpit blocks access thru the pit like a Corel wheel would, so putting two small wheels in gives you a nice easy passage, and if you want to be a little "aggressive" on the water, you can drive from the high side or the low side at will.