I like a tiller...

ok, lets say its 8. in my example of a 24" wheel, the sprocket would be small, sure, but the lever arm is only 12". the quadrant its only 18". seems 72" directly connected to the rudder post delivers much more leverage, but high school physics was a long time ago.

 

Sorry to break it to ya- you are going to be hauling this baby out in the future plenty.

If the steering gear works, leave it as is, fix all the other broken bits and sail the piss out of the boat.
In two years time you will have better ideal of where this conversion lies in the job list.
Hint- it won't be in the top 100

 

lets say its two turns (we cross posted, eight was a mistake by me) the rim of the 24" wheel travels 2*π*2 feet = about 12.6 feet. A six foot tiller would travel 70/360*π*12 feet = about 7.3 feet. So the advantage to the wheel is 12.6/7.3= 1.7. I'm not saying six feet won't work. I'd probably go with 5 or 5.5 for a shorty daysailing tiller. But if you get out in a seaway, get the load as low as you can. Use chain to limit tiller sweeping.

 

jesus...that brings back some memories. thanks for the reminder. and by chain i assume youre referring to to rudder stops ?

bntii. theres no gear, the boat is gutted which affords me the luxury of considering these kind of mods now while in blank-slate mode. the yorks earned their reputations from amateur builders doing the build-outs, but the hull form and glass work are sound. if one avoids the mistakes of the average backyard builder, seems to be a worthwhile starting point for a future cruiser.

 

Actually, I just meant wrapping a tee shirt around the tiller to protect the varnish and taking a length of chain and putting two or three turns around the tiller and running the tails to either coaming setup up to suit the conditions.

 

Got it.
My 41' CCA racer cruiser came from factory with either tiller or Edson gear.
Mine was tiller then changed to wheel by a prior owner. I still have the old tiller- it is 5' long.
My boat has a barn door attached rudder. She is easy to balance and has low helm loads to the gear. A friend has a sister ship with the tiller and reports no problems.
I wouldn't change it back to tiller in my case.

 

Good morning Rob- I just looked up the formula for tiller length to wheel for equivalent forces.

Here it its from Skenes's:

a: diameter of wheel
b: diameter of quadrant
c: diameter of sprocket
d:length of tiller

a x b/c = d

 

My rudder goes +-90 degrees. 2 to 4 turns would be more the norm for +-35 degrees.

After 35 deg its a speed brake , not a rudder.

FF