Silly Question from perspective owner

[Fred Koehlmann]

My spouse and I both grew up sailing dinghies and smaller keelboats, all with tillers, as well. Racing with a tiller and extension in the beginning took some getting use to, but now I wouldn't think twice and yes the tiller is incredibly responsive. Using the tiller on the Grampian 26 and the C&C 30 just became a natural progression and we never thought about putting a wheel in. I know of some that converted there 30 foot keelboats over to wheel steering and in those cockpits it took away a fair bit of room when anchored or moored. Of course when sailing, the tiller took up the entire cockpit, just because you need the space to move it about.

We don't race Dolphina, we just cruise her. It took us some time to get use to using the wheel, just like anything new, but probably less time than I might have expected. In less than half a season. In the beginning there was the occasional turning of the wheel the wrong way ( as if using a tiller)  . Now however I would no longer think about using a tiller. The wheel has become very convenient, especially after we splurged on the Lewmar collapsible wheel, thus allowing easier transom access (we have a MkII). I using sit to the side and have one hand on the wheel and am quite comfortable with that. Sometimes in rougher weather I may be behind the wheel.

What is interesting, is that you can still "get a feel" even without a tiller. What I found was there was some feedback through the wheel (not as much as the tiller), but you also compensated with other indicators, such as how the boat heeled, moved, the pull on the sheets and sails, etc. Basically you become atuned to your new boat. So from a "feel" or responsive perspective, I would not be going back to a tiller, IMHO.

That leaves the other points that everyone has been raising. Would you really want to remove the entire instrument console and steering column? Yes doable, but what a pain. (I'm lazy as well)

Either, the 34 is an amazing boat. We have been enjoying it immensely. Hope you do as well.