Used Parts and Wheel Conversion

[Trafton]

I have a 1979 Hunter 27. It's a great boat for my small family and the small lake I sail on. The one drawback on the boat is that the Tiller takes up 3/4 of the cockpit and leaves very little room for crew or guests topside. I looked at a '81 model Hunter 27 a few weeks ago and it has wheel steering instead of a tiller. I know the cockpit layout is a bit different (The seats are molded special to allow a walkway around the wheel), but it looks like it wouldn't be too much trouble to convert my boat over to wheel steering. I will need to split my backstay and build a custom pedestal for the wheel. Has anyone done a similar conversion? If so, any insight or suggestions would be great.Are there any good resources for used Hunter parts (a sailboat salvage yard or similar)?Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[mike]

contact edson............

they have all boats speced out and will tell you exactly what you need. they can email you a list of parts and a diagram. PLUS, check out ebay while searching for a new pedestal guard under the keyword edson, i saw a pedestal and wheel for sale the current bid was $250!!!!regards,mike

 

[David11054]

Tiller thoughts

Converting to a wheel has been done by a number of us. Mike's advice is good if that is where you are going.But I will stay with a tiller because:Ours curves up nicely to take it over the knees of the helmsman and any crew in the cockpit. So we have no trouble with four in the cockpit underway.When you anchor out for lunch, or overnight, the tiller completely clears the cockpit, while the wheel is still there!DavidLady Lillie