"Donal" wrote:
"Frank Maier" wrote:
"Donal" wrote:
"N1EE" wrote:
...snip...
It should be easy for one person to steer it.

True, but it would be difficult for that person to go forward in a
hurry.
They would have to climb up on to the sidedecks. As my kids are
reaching
the age where they might soon fly the nest, I am looking at boats with a
view to sailing them two handed.
...snip...

Well, I'm not familar with the Dehler line; ...snip...
Could you expand on having to go forward "in a hurry"?

I was thinking of going into the cockpit in a hurry, rather than going
forward onto the bow.
There are occasions when the main doesn't go up smoothly ... or perhaps when
trimming a cruising chute, ... even dumping the main in a hurry .....
I dunno, unexpected things happen on boats. My wife is not physically big,
and I don't like the idea of not being able to get there immediately.
I suppose that there is also another issue. I know many people whose
wives (occasionaly husbands) won't go sailing with them in anything but the
gentlest weather. ie motorsailing. I'm lucky that my wife will come
sailing with me when I say it's OK. It isn't her hobby, so if I want her to
come sailing, then I have to make sure that she enjoys it in a risk free
environment. That means that I have to be able to reach her before she gets
injured. So, that's why I don't like the idea of a big wheel.
Don't get me wrong, my wife isn't a wimp. She is excellent crew. It's
just that I know too many people who put their wives off sailing by taking
them out in innappropriate conditions. I even know one guy who had to sell
his boat!

Gotcha. You're comment is that the wheel is so big that it traps the
helmsman at his station and restricts him from moving forward *in the
cockpit*. That would be a PITA. So wouldn't it be a fairly inexpensive
solution to refit a smaller diameter wheel, if you like everything
else about the boat?

Unlike some Alpha males in the world of sailing, I agree with you
about working with your spouse. I love my wife; and if she's not
having fun, I'm not having fun. The kids, too. Frankly, it always
saddens me to see a 250 lb. guy at the wheel yelling at his 120 lb.
wife who's up on the pitching bow trying to manhandle a CQR which
weighs 1/3 of her total body mass. Ask her if she's enoying her sail!
The vast majority of the time when we're doing something "busy"
(raising sail, anchoring, gybing), my wife is at the helm and I do the
grunt work.

Not that I'm 250 or that she's 120! But that division of labor seems
to work for us.

Frank