Autohelm ST 1000 v Westerly Centaur

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stephenk

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My ancient autohelm has packed up and a logical replacement for my 73 Westerly Centaur would appear to be a Autohelm ST 1000. However the dry weight of a Centaur I am told is about 6,700 lbs which is at the top end of the units max guide weight of 6,600lbs.
I would be grateful if any Centaur owners could let me know if they use the 1000 with/without any probs.

Regs
Stephen
 
I bought the ST2000+ for my Centaur and as a single-handed sailor used it all the time. After two seasons it failed and I sent it back for repair. They said that it had suffered excessive use/wear but then after an argument agreed to repair it under warranty because I pointed out that the Centaur is only just over the weight limit for the ST1000 and well within the ST2000+. Had I had the ST1000 I have no doubt that they would have said 'tough'. One other point; the drive speed of the ST2000 is significantly faster, improving response under some conditions.

On balance, go for the ST2000+, it is a faster, stronger unit and if the ST1000 fails you will be on your own.

Edit:- Just to be clear, I was doing a heck of a lot of cruising!
 
I use an ST 1000 for my Custom 30 - West Aust built 31 foot IOR half tonner - probably 3,500kg's, and ST 1000 has no probs - I would prefer the higher speed of the 2000, but it is extremely rare for sail balance to be sufficiently out of whack for 1000 not to cope.
 
Stgephen,
IMHO Rick pinpointed the critical issue: a 3.500 kg boat could or could not be confortably steered by Autohelm 1000 mainly according on the more-or-less balanced sail trim, that is the degree of weather helm You can, or want, to achieve; for 15 years I extensivly sailed with an Autohelm 1000 on a 30 footer of 3800 kgs displ. No prbs exept if the boat was under sudden wind puff; even in near gale conditions no problem IF sails were properly reduced in size and well trimmed and the boat balanced; this never impaired reaching good speed conditions, maybe just a bit slower than if sailing with full crew and more sail: but then you would not need an autopilot, would You?.
Cheers,
Gianenrico
 
Totally agree with Lemain. When I bought my Centaur it had a very old AH800. This worked OK but when it died I went for the 2000+. This was because of the response speed. It's far faster end-end than the 1000 and controls the boat better when it's rolling. the AH800 lost the plot under rolling conditions. This could have been because it was a very simple device with no intelligence like the modern models but end-end speed is important.

On the subject of the weight, if the boat's trimmed correctly, it will need very little correction and the force used will be small. Hence the 1000+ will handle it. However, before I decide to reef, the weather helm gets quite bad. If I decide to ride it out and be lazy if it's on th edge, the tiller-pilot get's quite a hard time. Alternatively when it's rolling, it needs the power to keep the response speed up.

The 2000+ plus has a different drive mechanism all together. It's not just a beefed up 1000+ & I've heard it makes the unit far tougher.

On balance I went for the 2000+ which has given sterling service for the past 3 years although I haven't been out for weeks on end.
 
Thanks for opinions folks, as realistically I mainly use a autohelm when motoring I suspect the ST 1000 will be OK. I mainly use it during my annual 1 week trip across the channel which incidentally starts next saturday. hope the weather is better than last 2 years as had horrendous crossings and ended up holed up in Cherbourg for several wind swept days.
Thanks for advice
Stephen
 
Understood, but you are probably invalidating the warranty.
 
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