Johnb, thanks for sharing your experiment with us. Personally this type of stuff is exactly what I think of when I think of "messing about on boats" and I hope you had fun doing it.
I'm not necessarily some kind of safety squirrel but I have set the emergency tiller on other boats before and usually it was just for fun. Some boats you have to take the pedestal off to install the emergency tiller, that's no fun. Preparedness is a nice side benefit for those who care about that sort of thing.
I am very interested to know more details (sailed upwind in 7 knots breeze, moderate chop, motored back to slip on flat water, whatever) about your trip and also if you could be more specific about why "Motoring with it is a bitch" ?
When you consider it is possible to sail faster than you can motor, you should not have to work any more to make the boat go straight whilst motoring than sailing and the helm should not want to "run away from you" unless you are going in reverse.
For best handling the rudder itself should be somewhat resistant to rotating in a flow, but not unmanageable. There is a sweet spot for the how much area is forward of the rotational axis and I think in general less is considered more.
Instead I wonder if motoring being a "bitch" has more to do with turbulent flow from the prop wash producing vibration which is communicated directly to your forearm through the short metal emergency tiller?
This would make sense to me. That sounds like a bitch. It's short and made out of metal, doesn't have a hinge in it, etc. Personally, during +10k miles of short handed delivery crew experience, mostly on big racing boats equipped with proper tillers, sometimes made of wood but always with a tiller extension, it's not something for me that has EVER been a problem.
But I'm a sailor, for me personally just having to motor in the first place is a bitch, I would happily pull the motor in trade for weight and space if I didn't think a well maintained and properly working engine wasn't an important safety asset for anyone. I'm the guy who likes to sail boats into and out the slip whenever possible. It's not that hard and can be kinda fun.
Since we've established there is no practical reason, other than personal preference, to explain why anyone would choose a complicated, expensive, and heavy piece of equipment that requires an "emergency tiller" to be considered safe in favor of what some might think to be an obvious Keep It Simple Stupid no-brainer decision in favor of tiller, why did Hunter choose instead to hire Mr Cherubini to spoil a too-small cockpit with a wheel?
My wife found the following comment posted by "IslanderGuy" on a sailnet.com forum after a quick google search on the subject "tiller vs wheel". I think it's interesting when you consider tillers are a lot more common in Europe, I think someone suggested a Cayenne 41 earlier as an example of one such boat.
I don't know if I agree precisely with what he is saying, the Farr 40 sailors I mentioned earlier certainly share his views. That said I certainly have encountered a few people out there with a lot of money and absolutely no clue and don't know a single one of them who prefers a tiller.
From "IslanderGuy"-
"My take on the "Why do so many American boats have wheels" is simply...
1. Most people who buy brand new boats in America are not really sailors, just people with money looking for something new to do. (Not all, but most, as evidenced by all the new boats that never get sailed)
2. To a non-sailor, tillers are old-school and low tech. Seeing a tiller makes some people wonder if they are still using natural fiber sails and tar sealed wood hulls as well. Wheels are new and high tech and fancy. Cars have wheels, power boats have wheels, why would a sail boat be stuck in the old days of a tiller?
3. If the people with the money are turned off by the sight of a tiller, then no tillers will be installed, regardless of all the finer points either way. Most large manufacturers will go with what sells first, without regard for which would be better for this particular hull, shape, size, weight, design of boat. Only your more specialized manufacturers who tailor to the real sailors with lower volume boats will take that into account.
Not saying wheels are always bad, and tillers are always good, I think the points of what makes sense and when have already been covered by far more knowledgeable people then me. But for me, I am happy with the tiller I have, mostly because it is on the boat that I have."