Wheel inside, tiller outside

[JimD]

Anyone have any experience, opinions on how well this arrangement works. I've seen it on a couple larger sailboats but haven't been able to talk to anyone about it. In fair weather sail from the cockpit using the tiller. In foul weather motor from a cozy wheelhouse and stay warm and dry.

[Stiletto]

Did the tillers you saw have some means of disengagement?

[paladin]

sorry for one finger typing........use a bowden cable to engage or disengage...did this sort of arrangement on the 31 footer, tiller was for emergency, hinged upward when not in use to clear the cockpit area with a bungee cord to support end of tiller to keep cockpit clear, release the bowden cable, rock the wheel side to side to engage wheel steering....not able to dig out notes at the moment, but have drawings for the homemade parts.......on special this week only.....

[JimD]

Did the tillers you saw have some means of disengagement?

They didn't appear to. Presumably if the helmsman were to turn the wheel the tiller would move side to side in unison and conversely, if one were using the tiller the wheel would turn freely as per the tiller, if this makes sense.

[JimD]

Chuck, the special rates you offer sounds like a deal, especially since I don't know what a bowden cable is. I will google it and see what comes up. What did you do with your other nine fingers?

[Dave Lesser]

My father had just such an arrangement on his NorSea 26 pilothouse sloop. (Lyle Hess design) It had an outboard rudder, and the tiller was simply swung up and secured loosely to the backstay, where it could swivel as the rudder moved when the boat was being steered from the pilothouse. The wheel in the pilothouse could be engaged or disengaged from the cable steering by using a pin through the axle. Not fancy, but it worked fine.

[JimD]

... Not fancy, but it worked fine.

Fancy usually turns out to be something else to go wrong. I'm all for simple.

[S/V Laura Ellen]

Here is one example on a cruiser.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p50f02a29e99ad6bbf29f298cb1a1cec8/e85f62a6.jpg

[paladin]

what kind of boat, size, etc....?

[S/V Laura Ellen]

what kind of boat, size, etc....?

It's a custom built 30+ footer (built by owner I believe).
Note the bronze scuppers down the side of the hull.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p7e22eaabea4486f4573681ac29f47978/e85f6215.jpg

There was another boat at WAMBO with a unique name.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pddceb2af526abc9ddfb23652542b13d2/e7f69ddf.jpg

[JimD]

what kind of boat, size, etc....?

As for me I was going to try it out on this 15 footer. You can see where I have started on a small wheel house sticking up off the aft of the cabin. I have since decided its just too much to ask of such a small boat but would still like to look at doing same on our next boat, between 18 and 20 feet, most likely one of Paul Fisher's Swan designs.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p90854a930c4ce3a0c2816e96189f0366/e8935c32.jpg (http://javascript<b></b>:viewExifData())

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pde97ed60f793ed764d69784af9e98cbe/e8933385.jpg (http://javascript<b></b>:viewExifData())

[donald branscom]

As for me I was going to try it out on this 15 footer. You can see where I have started on a small wheel house sticking up off the aft of the cabin. I have since decided its just too much to ask of such a small boat but would still like to look at doing same on our next boat, between 18 and 20 feet, most likely one of Paul Fisher's Swan designs.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p90854a930c4ce3a0c2816e96189f0366/e8935c32.jpg (http://javascript<b></b>:viewExifData())

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pde97ed60f793ed764d69784af9e98cbe/e8933385.jpg (http://javascript<b></b>:viewExifData())

Nice to see a photo of your boat Jim.
It looks very much like the design i am building.
I think you are right about not putting that wheel house on. Too much windage.

Is that a recent photo?

[JimD]

It looks very much like the design i am building. Is that a recent photo?

Yes, it looks just like a compressed version of your boat. The date are showing on the photos so it looks like that was from July 15. Gotta finish building the sliding hatch today. What's the latest on yours?

[rbgarr]

A successful design I saw was a tiller (aft facing) inside linked by a solid tube to the stern tiller.

[JimD]

Nice to see a photo of your boat Jim.
It looks very much like the design i am building. Is that a recent photo?

Donald, here's more recent. Got some primer on and a start at painting:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pa2a9601891366d346bde1fdce40b02fa/e7e7c5ff.jpg (javascript:downloadOriginal())

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p663f6b029877b55c5938dc044e63f51a/e7e7c5f8.jpg (javascript:downloadOriginal())

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pdba2eb4b5c83d70ec7a976e5e165a25e/e7e7c5e3.jpg (javascript:downloadOriginal())

[Yeadon]

JimD, nice work. Takes a lot of patience to get that far.

[JimD]

...Takes a lot of patience to get that far.

Yeah. Wish I had some :D. And a genuine thanks for the encouragement.