Autopilots v tiller pilots

[philipmason]

Hi
My Autohelm 2000 pre raymarine vintage is apparently kaput.
Recommended to buy replacement Raymarine evo tiller autopilot at about £1400 but am wondering if a tiller pilot at about 500 quid would do instead. Which made me realise l do no know really know the difference embarrassingly , boat is Trapper 501 so quite weighty sailing cruiser .
All comments gratefully received
Thanks
Philip

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Virtually none.

The EVO will steer to a heading, an apparent wind or a waypoint. So will a TP32.
The main advantage of the EVO is the computer is housed below deck where as the TP is all exposed and some have problems with water ingress. I haven't.
The main advantage of the TP is about £800 for other stuff.

 

[Concerto]

It all depends on your boat weight. My Fulmar had an identical tiller pilot when I bought her. When it failed (broken power cable), I decided to replace it. The 2000 has a maximum weight of 4000kg IIRC. That is not the designed displacement weight, but the fully loaded boat weight. The Fulmar is designed at 4500kg but weighs closer to 5500kg fully loaded. So, I fitted the Evo 100 tiller and found it to be excellent as the ram is a lot larger and everything except the control instrument and ram are internally fixed within the boat. The control sensor is more sophisticated as well.

When I bought my Evo 100 5 years ago, I tried searching for the best price. List was £1500, and the best UK price was £1250, (after fitting a boat show offer reduced this to £1100). However after asking on ybw, I managed to buy one in Sweden and after paying for shipping, it cost £920. Prices on the continent were keaner than the UK because of currency exchange rates.

I had been worried about the guarantee, but it is world wide and does not matter which country you bought it from, where it was fitted, or who fitted it. As the UK has a large yachting population and a small boat building industry, the UK prices have to pay for the larger warranty claims - hence higher prices. So, do search overseas for the best price.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

501 is 2500kg design. A TP32 is rated to 6000kg although to be honest rating a ram against a hull displacement is completely nonsensical. It's the max tiller load that counts.

 

[Tranona]

An Autohelm 2000 will be fine for a Trapper. As said the prime differentiator is displacement as clearly explained in the specs. The 2000 will handle up to 4500kgs and the EVO up to 6000kgs. To an extent these limits are recommendations as some boats are easier to steer than others and also some owners require a higher level of performance - for example using the pilot in heavy weather rather than just for relieve steering under motor. The EVO also uses the latest technology and can be integrated with the latest plotters just like the below decks system. The 2000 is old tech and while it can steer to course or wind it can't be integrated easily, nor does it have the latest control electronics.

 

[Tranona]

501 is 2500kg design. A TP32 is rated to 6000kg although to be honest rating a ram against a hull displacement is completely nonsensical. It's the max tiller load that counts.

But that is hugely variable. Displacement is the best single , easily obtained figure on which to base capacity of the drive, but obviously when you approach the limits other factors may affect your choice. The TP32 says 6000kgs, but the power of the drive is nowhere near as high as that of the EVO with the same recommendation, so it seems that manufacturers have different ideas of what their products are capable of!

As I suggested above there are other factors that might affect choice.

 

[fredrussell]

I’ve toyed with buying an Evo tiller pilot but there are a lot of fairly damning reviews online. I’ll see if I can find a link to the page but one guy was saying that to have full access to set up features the tiller pilot needed to be connected to a Raymarine (only) MFD.
Link to follow…
…here we are:
Raymarine EV100 Tiller pilot review – Ahoy!

 

[vyv_cox]

I have used a TP30 on a Sadler 34 for more than 20 years. It has never given any trouble. I bought a used TP32 as an insurance but have never needed to use it.

 

[Concerto]

I’ve toyed with buying an Evo tiller pilot but there are a lot of fairly damning reviews online. I’ll see if I can find a link to the page but one guy was saying that to have full access to set up features the tiller pilot needed to be connected to a Raymarine (only) MFD.
Link to follow…
…here we are:
Raymarine EV100 Tiller pilot review – Ahoy!

That review is not that good and also from a source I do not know. I have used my EVO 100 extensively and disagree about it being noisy. This clip in rougher weather shows the EVO in operation.

In very calm weather this is the noise in this clip. This starts with me sitting just above the ram and no external noises.

As a device I can certainly say it works far better than the old Autohelm 2000, but I cannot compare it to a TP as I have never used one. The TP range I did consider but the control sensitivity is far cruder and the whole of the electronics are external.

 

[fredrussell]

I do wonder if he was just unlucky with his TP Concerto, it’s encouraging (to a prospective buyer) to hear yours is good.

The thing from that review I refer to re needing a Raymarine MFD is doing a firmware update. Do you have a Raymarine plotter on your boat? Must admit I’ve never updated any boat tech firmware to date.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

The Simrad TP32 is far too powerful for your boat. I had a TP30 (same as TP32) for many years trouble free and very robust. The TP22 may be more suitable for your boat.

 

[Concerto]

I do wonder if he was just unlucky with his TP Concerto, it’s encouraging (to a prospective buyer) to hear yours is good.

The thing from that review I refer to re needing a Raymarine MFD is doing a firmware update. Do you have a Raymarine plotter on your boat? Must admit I’ve never updated any boat tech firmware to date.

I do have have Raymarine chart plotter, but I have not bothered to connect the plotter and pilot as I was 1m short on the cable and just have not got round to buying one and after using it for 5 seasons I do not really see the need.

 

[doug748]

Hi
My Autohelm 2000 pre raymarine vintage is apparently kaput.
Recommended to buy replacement Raymarine evo tiller autopilot at about £1400 but am wondering if a tiller pilot at about 500 quid would do instead. Which made me realise l do no know really know the difference embarrassingly , boat is Trapper 501 so quite weighty sailing cruiser .
All comments gratefully received
Thanks
Philip

I have both a TP32 and Evo (well not quite but the previous model) on a 4ton boat. In strong winds and cross swells only the Evo will hack it, it's both faster and more powerful. However I agree with Buck T, most of the time the cheaper option would be fine. I would only consider the extra spend if intending to keep the boat very long term.

If you have the old Nautech 2000 with the jam pot control head, I have known them to come to life if dismantled and dried out but they do tend to be tricky to reassemble. I think the control arm from these could (never tried it though) be a useful spare if you did buy the Evo.

.

 

[fredrussell]

I do have have Raymarine chart plotter, but I have not bothered to connect the plotter and pilot as I was 1m short on the cable and just have not got round to buying one and after using it for 5 seasons I do not really see the need.

That clip of yours in boisterous conditions looks very impressive actually. My ST2000+ would be struggling there, that’s for sure. The thing for me is that once you get up to Evo cost you start to get into second hand windvane territory. Both appeal but I can’t afford both.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

This is a TP22 downwind in 30kts. Warning: the music is loud. sorry!

 

[Buck Turgidson]

And a TP32 upwind in 38-40kts