Wheel Steering?

[amax89]

Had the opportunity to look at a brand new 23 and loved the boat.   Just wish it would hurry up and warm up here iin New England.  These posts have been very informative and I have decided to buy a used one, if I can find one!  That new 23 had a wheel- a rack and pinion job- and I asked Hutchins if they sold a kit to retrofit an older model.  Gerry himself replied and advised that the wheel I saw was a "prototype" and directed me to Edson's website, which left me...confused!  Just wondering if anyone had "converted" to wheel steering and/or done this in conjunction with the Idasailor rudder.

[JimL]

I saw a 23 with a wheel a few years ago at a boat show -- it was probably the same boat you saw!  I've never heard of one on the water, though. IMHO, I'd say get your 23 with a tiller and sail her for a while before you install the wheel. The 23 isn't so big that you need the mechanical advantage of the wheel, and the mechanics of adding a wheel is going to take up some space in and below the cockpit. You'll lose a bit of "feel" you get with a tiller, too. If you do decide to retrofit, take pics along the way!  I'm sure we'd all enjoy watching the project progress.   Jim

[amax89]

Was the one you saw a pedestal mount?  The one that I saw was rack and pinion...I will just go with the tiller first, I just like the way a wheel frees up the cockpit-and it looks pretty slick too.  I would be curious about weather helm too...if it would be worse or better.  From reading other posts, it would seem that can be an issue, and our home sailing waters can get windy and choppy.

[pbrenton]

Since the CP23 rudder is transom hung, the tiller does not stick up out of the floor like on some baots I've seen.  It is no more in the way than a reasonable wheel would be and is less likely to fail (since wheels have to have some mechanism).  I also never realized how neat looking the laminated tiller would be.  Nice to have a bit of teak on your boat eh?  By the way, an investment in a tiller cover pays big dividends.

So who needs a wheel?  Of course, what I'd really like is just the pedestal to put some instruments (compass, knot meter, wind meter) closer to my eyes instead of on the companionway hatch plate where there is often someone sitting in front of it.

I loved having a pedestal table on a bigger boat a friend has.  I think the CP23 cockpit is probably too small for anything resembling a table in the cockpit though.

Pete

[Craig Weis]

Kinda small for a wheel, think so? I do.
Keep it simple sailor. :roll: