Should I buy a boat with tiller steering or forward controls?

Here is the boatsales guide to help you choose a helm set-up and engine control system for your small boat.

In a small boat, the helm or driving position is the hub around which your basic boating or fishing layout is built. The success or otherwise of the cockpit layout for your favourite boating activity therefore relies on choosing the correct configuration from the outset.

Clearly, some configurations are better suited to specific applications.

The classic runabout with windscreen and forward controls is ideal for fishing in cold climates including icy inland lakes and dams because the windscreen (with overhead bimini) provides good weather protection. On the downside, the layout makes it difficult to fish from up in the bow.

Some boat buyers may not have a choice of configuration. The smallest car toppers and open boats under 3.5 metres long are only available with a tiller-steered, usually manual start outboard.

Fitting a centre or side console with a battery and forward controls in a car topper is simply impractical.

Your choice of hull shape and type may also restrict your configuration options. For example, very few small multihulls are available in a forward-steer runabout configuration. Most have a centre or side console helm position, which means that if you require the protection of the forward steer/windscreen layout, a vee-bottomed boat is the only real option.

Another factor in the question of configuration and basic layout is your budget. Some configurations are more expensive than others so depending on the amount of money you have to spend, your choices may be limited.

Let's begin our examination of the popular configurations with a study of the basic open boat.

Mos small vee-nose punts and dinghies are powered by a manual start outboard engine, operated from the stern of the boat via a tiller steering arm that incorporates a twist-grip throttle (like on a motorbike) and tiller- or engine-mounted lever for forward-neutral-reverse control.

This configuration is not only inexpensive, but it is also practical.

A big advantage of having the engine as a self-contained unit is that you can take it off the transom and stow it away in the garage when the boat is not being used. This reduces the possibility of theft, and makes it possible to easily swap the outboard for another as required.

Out on the water, operating the boat from the stern using a hand throttle and a tiller to steer the boat is unquestionably more tiring than using a steering wheel and separate lever throttle, but there are compensations.

For one thing, a tiller-steer set-up is considerably cheaper. With a manual/tiller-operated outboard engine, there's no need for a battery, separate driving console/instrument panel, throttle/steering linkages and all the other required paraphernalia. Modern pull-start outboard engines are even able to offer electronic fuel injection without the need for a battery.

Using a modern tiller-steer outboard is also a bit easier with the advent of larger and longer tiller arms for improved steering leverage, along with sturdy tiller-mounted gearshift levers, and trim and stop buttons located in better positions.  

Arguably the best reason to opt for a tiller-operated outboard engine is that you can build a very efficient fishing/boating layout, chiefly because the helmsman drives the boat from the stern, not from the centre of the cockpit or up at the bow.

Having the skipper seated right up the back of the boat frees up all of the space in the boat forward of the transom and the aftmost seat. 

This efficient use of interior space is increasingly crucial, the smaller the boat

Anglers buy tiller-steer vee-nosed punts and dinghies for this very reason. Space is often maximised in these small craft with the inclusion of a large, flat floor in the centre of the boat, along with an elevated casting deck up at the bow.

With the skipper situated aft, anglers can fish from the bow and both sides of the boat. There is no helm console or front dash/windscreen to get in the way.

Given a choice between a forward steer runabout with good weather protection, but which is difficult to fish from, and an open barra boat or multihull, most anglers will choose the latter and simply deal with the absence of weather protection.

Open boats with a side console or centre console configuration are “next best” when it comes to open deck space and fishability.

With a side-mounted helm console boat, you can fish the full length of the side opposite the console, and from up on the bow.

If the side console is compact and low-set, it may also be possible to dangle a rod over the top of the helm console on the console's side.

Conversely, having the helm console located in the centre of the cockpit, allows you to fish 360 degrees around the entire boat, but limits walkway space down the centreline.

Importantly, however, both side and centre console options provide a "proper" helm station with a steering wheel, remote throttle controls, and a helm chair.

Side and centre consoles are very popular on small boats in the 4.3-metre to 5.5-metre size range particularly those craft made from aluminium.

I prefer the side console layout on craft less than 4.6 metres in length. This configuration is particularly well suited to drift fishing, bearing in mind that for this style of fishing, you are normally restricted to fishing over one side of the boat anyway.

Side console boats are equally good for trolling, fishing at anchor, or lure casting.

Having noted the above, side console boats are not great if you normally fish alone. Small boats are generally very weight sensitive, so having the helm and driving position situated right over on the starboard side may cause the boat to heel over to that side when underway.

If you regularly fish “two-up”, the side console layout works well; your fishing companion can balance the boat by sitting opposite you. Alternatively, you can stow all your fishing gear on the side opposite the helm console.

Centre console boats also have pros and cons.

Generally speaking, the centre console layout is better suited to bigger boats, say above 4.7 metres.

Larger craft have the size, and importantly, the beam width to carry a centre console without restricting fishing and side access walkway space.

A larger boat will also be more stable at rest, so you don’t have to be too concerned about upsetting the boat when stepping around the centre console or standing right up against the gunwale to fish over the side of the boat. 

The traditional runabout with a windscreen, forward steering, and twin pedestal helm chairs continues to be popular.

For the boating newcomer, the forward control runabout is the most logical choice because it is inherently the safest of the small boat configurations. The enclosed foredeck and vertical windscreen act as a bulwark against the sea, helping to stop water from coming over the bow.

It also provides excellent wind protection for the skipper and crew and can provide the base for an overhead canopy or bimini top.

On the downside, the runabout has considerably less useable fishing space when compared with any of the open format layouts previously discussed

Note also that with most forward steer runabouts, the helm position is invariably designed so that it is nigh on impossible to drive the boat while standing up. This can make travelling through choppy seas very uncomfortable.

Except for a few multihulls and some custom-built boats, the runabout configuration is only available coupled to a hull with a traditional vee-bottom and rounded bow.

Punts and barra-type boats can readily be built with a runabout configuration, but it isn't very practical.

These two hull shapes are not designed for choppy water operation, and for this reason, the shelter and protection afforded by fitting a windscreen and enclosed foredeck is of no great benefit, certainly not when compared with the fishing advantages gained by having an open layout.

Verdict

The forward steer runabout is a general-purpose configuration, great for day boating and casual boat fishing.

However, for serious inshore/smooth water fishing and boating applications any, and all of the open boat configurations will serve you better.

I like the tiller-steer, open boat layout for sub 4.3-metre craft as this simple type of boat/engine package is cheap to buy, and you can remove the motor for safe storage.

Above 4.5 metres I would be looking for a boat with a side console or centre console. Both have nearly as much cockpit fishing and storage space as a tiller-steer open boat, but with the comfort of a proper driving position.

Buying a centre or side console (with all the associated equipment) will lift the purchase price substantially over a tiller-steer option, but the forward-control boat package will be easier to use, and more civilised on the water.