Wheel steering

[Irondragon]

I am looking at a 23 that actually has edson wheel steering. Anyone have any thoughts pro or con.  May not be able to sail her so would find out after shes in the water how well I like it.  Have had wheel steering on bigger boats just seems like a space killer on such a small day sailor.
Michael

[Greene]

Hi Michael.  Brenda and I just bought our 23 which came with a tiller.  We both love the feedback and look of a tiller vs. the wheel.  We tend to spend a lot of time at anchor which means using the cockpit as the "living room", so having a wheel taking up floor space just wouldn't work for us. 

Just our humble opinion.

Mike and Brenda

[brackish]

Hey like any choice, pros and cons.  

Pros.

That useless fuel tank cover now becomes a helmsman seat although you may get strangled by the mainsheet.
You don't bump your crew/passenger knees when coming about, the area in front of the wheel is free.
On the boats I've sailed that had wheel steering, weather helm seems to get minimized through the gearing.
You can pedestal mount instruments and have them close to the helm at all times, that's nice.
most wheels have a lock, so no rigging of tiller tamers or the like.

Cons.

When you are at anchor/dock, that wheel takes up much more room in the cockpit than a tiller which can be raised out of the way
If you plan to add autopilot, that event becomes much more expensive than a tiller pilot.
probably adds a little weight aft of center and 23's are a little sensitive to that ( unless this boat is an inboard)
depending on location, may make access to the cockpit lockers more difficult.

I'd love to sail one to make up my mind about the choice, but none close to me.

[newt]

I have a boat with a wheel and one with a tiller. Hate the wheel.

[Irondragon]

Thanks for the input

I have sailed many boats with and many without the wheel. I was hoping to hear from somone who acutually sailed a 23 with the wheel  One thing not mentioned in the pros is the fact you have something to hold on to when things get alllitle rough.  Thanks again this is a cool web site. Have never owned a compac or a sailboat this small and can not wait to see how she likes the west coast of florida.

Michael

[CaptRon28]

Yes - the tiller can be raised while at anchor so you have more room in the cockpit. But, while sailing, most tiller eqiuipped boats that I've used tend to hit crew or passengers sitting in the cockpit seats. Put 4 or 5 passengers in the seats and you're gonna have some trouble doing a quick tack. I'm using a shorter tiller (about 30 inches) on my Telstar for that reason. The 42 inch stock one tended to get me in trouble at times, especially with women seating in these seats. You can shorten the tiller on most multihulls because there is little if any weatherhelm. Other than that the tiller has several advantages.

[Bob23]

Hi Mike:
   I own a 1985 23/2 and, in my opinion, a tiller is the right thing to have. I like the feedback it provides and you can't beat the simplicity. With a wheel you'd have to walk on the cockpit seats to go forward to the cabin. Having a wheel steering seems like a good way to reinvent a wheel that doesn't need reinventing.  Pardon the pun.
  The 23 is small enough so that the crew's weight when placed on the windward side, makes a noticable difference. I also like to move my weight forward while sailing to help trim the boat. Might be kinda hard with wheel steering.
But, to each his own.
  Bob23

[pdx23p]

The pilot house 23 has both a wheel (inside) and a tiller (cockpit). There is less "feel" of rudder pressure when using the wheel.  You can disengage the wheel and get the feel of the tiller. For tiller steered boats  I also like using a tiller extension to be able to steer from various places in the cockpit. In general a tiller is much more common on this size boat, and for good reasons.

[skip1930]

Forget the wheel. The boat is not big enough.
Nor the cockpit sole stiff enough for a mounting, pedestal, and wheel. Probably has that carpeted foam block under it. A typical construction pratice for Com-Pac Yachts.

Another Austrian motor sailor. But has a tiller on deck and a when down below, a wheel. Note the curved 'windscreen'. In the X~Boss's toy box. Along with a bunch of Porsche and Jackie Gleason's limo, a couple of stone lions and many museum quality model sailing pond boats.

skip.

[HideAway]

We have one in our sailing club.  While I have not heard any complaints from the owner I can not imagine how the wheel can be a benefit over the tiller.  Watching him sail I noticed the wheel placement makes the boat squat raising the bow.     As we motor into the Gulfport Channel I usually stand on the gas tank cover to see over the Bimini while my wife bags the jib.  This works OK for motoring awhile but I can feel the boat is off balance.  Add in a few gas tanks laying about for extended cruising and the problems already noted - I much prefer sitting in front of the tiller  where my weight is in a better place to balance the boat..   Matt

[Irondragon]

Thanks all for the info

I have moved on and am hopefully buying a nice 23 with a tiller this weekend.  Would sure like to have had the diesel in the one with the wheel but would have had to remove it as I agree that she is just to small for a wheel anyway you look at it.   

Michael

[newt]

If you can get a 23D for cheap Mike, I think converting it back to tiller would not be that hard. Just take out the Wheel, glass it up and add the tiller. I would bet less than 200.oo for parts.