[alberg30] steering wheel

[Scott Wallace]

Lee,

Thank you for so your excellent expression of why tillers may be preferable over
wheels.  I sail a 1963 Pearson Electra with tiller.  I can feel changes in
current, wave action and the wind through my tiller.  When I sail on friends
Alberg 29's, Alden schooners from 1926 with wheel steering I never can get the
same feeling and wind up in irons or zig zagging across the sea!  There is some
sort of delay in making course corrections with a wheel that you don't feel for
a while, then when you feel it you may over correct...Give me the simplicity of
the tiller anyday!

Scott

finnus505 at aol.com wrote:

> Hey Pete,   Welcome aboard!
>
> Some people love wheels.  They give more mechanical advantage in steering,
> some argue it is easier to fit an electric autopilot to them,
> The compass in the binacle is easier to read, and may have less deviation
> than a compass in the step on the bridgedeck. You can hang thing on the
> binnacle, like sunglasses, a hat, an emergency knife, etc.
> You can have a small cockpit table mounted on the for face of the binnacle,
> ready to fold down into position any time for drinks or food, or reading,
> etc, etc.
>
> But, I don't like wheels on a sailboat!!  The most important reason, is that
> I loose a lot of the feel of the boats motion, balance under the current sail
> plan, the feel of the rudder going through the water, and the pressure on the
> rudder, again , an indicator of sail balance, boat balance, etc.  The wheel
> and pedesal take up alot of room in the cockpit.
>
> There's that famous photo of John Alden steering one of his Malabar
> schooners. He must have been in one of the Bermuda races   in the 20's or
> 30's.  There he is sitting on the varnished wheelbox, one hand on one spoke
> of the traditional wooden wheel, surrounded by all the varnished cockpit
> coamings, and the wood blocks and wooden booms overhead.  Sure, he looks
> great sitting there, the sun on his weatherbeaten face, his loose white
> cotton shirt luffing in the breeze.  He looks more like a pirate than a
> cruising sailor!!
>
> So sure, a wheel may look nice too, even if it a SS destroyer type wheel,
> attached to a white binacle, which has its own plastic engine controls, and
> stainless steel pipes going verticaly to help hold up and protect the wheel
> and binnacle.
>
> If the boat is properly balanced, meaning the mast step position and the rake
> of the mast, and the choice of sails for a given wind and sea are all
> correct, not much  force should be needed at the tiller. So unless the
> skipper has very distinct tastes, or has a disability which is of course a
> valid reason for choosing any piece of gear that can help. I personaly would
> never choose a wheel.  If a boat I wanted to buy, because she had everything
> I wanted, had a wheel, I would remove it, and install/reinstall a tiller.
>
> But that's just my opinion :)
>
> Lee
> Stargazer 255




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