BIG WHEEL vs SMALL WHEEL

[twodzusfittings]

I took a winter and wrapped my 26" with Robline cord, mounted my Raymarine Auto Wheel and have used it for the last four years. I recently acquired a 22" Helm Wheel. Now that I'm all winterized, I brought my 26" wheel home, transferred the Auto pilot wheel and clutch system to the 22" with the intentions of mounting it for next season. Now why did I do that? I find it sometimes difficult to maneuver around the helm when needing to go forward or to adjust the boom or trim the sails. My large stomach gets in the way!!! So rather than dieting and getting my waist line down, I'm hoping the smaller wheel will help. Is it harder to steer when heeling with a smaller wheel. Up until my current boat I have only had tiller experience. I sometimes miss the feel of the tiller and the feeling of "being, in one with the boat". May I ask the wisdom of the group, how much difference will it make.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

My boat came with a whopping 40" wheel. I went down to a 28". I wouldn't want to go any smaller even though it gets in the way. You've already done the work of moving everything to the smaller one. Might as well give it a try!

Sailing with a wheel feels sterile compared to a tiller. Or maybe my O'Day just had way more character than my Catalina

 

[Davidasailor26]

Keep in mind the wheel diameter affects not just the leverage you get but also how easy it is to steer from the rail. I sit behind the wheel when motoring, and sometimes running downwind, but sailing to windward I almost always sit to leeward. For me the visibility of the jib and of the water to leeward is much better there. A smaller diameter wheel would make it very hard to reach the wheel from there and that would be a dealbreaker for me. Your boat your choice though, so if you sit behind the wheel all the time (or you’ve got the arms of an orangutan ) go with whichever wheel suits you.

 

[dlochner]

You will lose a lot of leverage by going to a smaller wheel. And as @Davidasailor26 says it will be harder to steer the boat from the rail.

 

[Tally Ho]

My O’Day 322 came with a 40” wheel. I like it. Yes, a little more work to get around the wheel, but I tried a 28” wheel, and found it took a lot more muscle to steer in strong winds, waves, etc.



Greg

 

[colemj]

The 22" wheel will require ~25% more effort to turn than the 28" wheel. Whether that is significant is dependent on the friction, forces, and balance of your particular boat.

The 22" wheel will also be more responsive in the sense that it takes smaller amounts of turning to achieve the same rudder response. If this is too much, the steering will be twitchy.

It all comes down to put the smaller wheel on and see how it works.

Mark

 

[Apex]

i always thought it was more about steering from the rail. Opposite of @Davidasailor26 I steer from the high-side. The coming is slanted just-so and at heel that surface is flat. Note twin wheel ships of today's era....smaller wheels set outboard to allow center access to the transom.

Of course effort will be greater with a smaller wheel (smaller leverage) but with rig and sails balanced wheel effort should be very light or non-existent. THAT is when handling the wheel puts you back in-tune with your boat. Because I love the maths, it is 18.2% more force required to apply the same torque as before. 1/2lb force to hold the wheel? now 2/3lb. 5lbs, now 6. yes a change, but I would summize manageable.