Re: Stus-List two helms?

[sam . c . salter]

I've sailed a lot of twin helmed Benneteau's and Jenneau's while chartering. I like how they open up the cockpit; Give straight through access to the transom deck; Provide a ‎space for the helmsman that's out of the cockpit traffic ; Put you out to weather when you're on the helm. I've also sailed a C&C 115 with the biggest mf helm you ever saw. Lovely boat to sail but when in port the cockpit space is a pain in the arse.  Remember you spend a lot of time on the dock. Think about the sort of sailing you do and who you do it with. Do you spend a lot of time in dock/ in the cockpit? Are you a racer?  ‎Sail a twin helmed boat - it might be just what you / your wife is looking for!  (if it's good enough for Dennis Connor etc. etc.. sam :-) From: Colin Kilgour Sent: Monday, September 2, 2013 9:41 AM To: w...@wbryant.com; C&C List Reply To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Re: Stus-List two helms? I sailed a double helm Pacer 42 from Tortola to Bermuda.  (It's pretty much a fat-transomed South African sled).  From a driving perspective, the double helm is really nice.  You can be high side or low side depending on your preference and sight line requirements.  However, unless you're going to duplicate all instruments at each helm, you may end up moving between them more more than you'd like to.  Putting the instruments in the centre is a compromise that just means you won't be able to see the instruments from either helm seat.  Keep in mind that we all wear polarized sunglasses - so looking at the instruments from an angle all the time will really piss you off in a hurry.  So basically, if you go the double helm route, budget for dual instrument displays and you'll be happy. Cheers, Colin PS - It's only 8 months after New Year's Eve.  (so much for Wal's math!)  On Mon, Sep 2, 2013 at 11:12 AM, Wally Bryant <w...@wbryant.com> wrote: Double your pleasure, double your fun, with Doublemint Doublemint Doublemint gum.   (Sorry, but when I was 3 years old I had a real crush on those animated twins that danced across the TV... which just goes to show the power of Madison Ave back then.) You're right that you'll double the maintenance.  You would probably mount your expensive instruments on the back of the big party table, so you can see them from either helm, and put a simple multi-control by each wheel. Some guys are really into big wide hineys, but I like them skinny.  They say that a wide stern surfs better downwind.  My skinny IOR boat surfs pretty darn well, and frankly has surfed through some pretty scary stuff.  When's the last time you saw a fat surfer?  <VBG> I think the point of dual wheels is so you can see well when heading to windward at a steep angle of heel.  If you have a lot of crew that makes sense, but if you're pleasure sailing you probably won't have a full crew.  If you're pleasure sailing you'll probably will have at least one type of self-steering system.  If you have a self-steering system, you can leave the helm alone and deal with lines, make a sandwich, or even take a good look around. Madison Avenue strikes again...  Many new boats are designed to sell to retirees, who have seen pictures of 'round the world' racers on performance monohulls, which usually have two wheels. Then they get 'practical' and order an in-mast furling system, which is convenient but really can't provide decent sail shape. Then they go out on the ocean and get scared witless and spend the rest of their retirement years motoring or at the dock.  But that big wide transom, and that big cockpit table, provides room for dock parties where they swap stories that they read about in Sail Magazine.  And even 32 foot boats have two 'bathrooms.' Uh oh, I think I'm ranting.  Gotta go. Wal PS.  Happy Labor Day.  BTW, it's called Labor Day because it's nine months after New Years Eve...  it actually has nothing to do with work. Richard wrote: I imagine twice as much maintenance, twice as many instruments to purchase, and twice as much to go wrong.  <snip> Has anyone sailed a twin-helm boat? What were your impressions? Do we want one? Is this the future of boat design? _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com

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This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album
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This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album
http://www.cncphotoalbum.com
CnC-List@cnc-list.com