Is an auto helm essential?

For my kind of sailing, mostly but not always less than 24hrs, the autopilot really comes into its own when motoring or motor-sailing, which can otherwise be tedious. I never get bored at the helm, so my time there is only limited by endurance. A quadrant-operated one is ideal but any one that functions properly is a lot better than nothing.
 
I wonder if the people who 'wouldn't be without their autopilot' want self-driving cars?

Is steering tedious?
As a racing dinghy sailor, you get to the point where steering is something you can do while doing other things and thinking about other things.

For sure on a yacht you will want to leave the helm from time to time, but it's not as if the boat is going to capsize like a Laser if you just stop is it?
Is time that often so precious that you must make progress while you do other things?

I think perhaps it's a luxury that you get used to and would want to go back?
Like I wouldn't buy a house without central heating perhaps?

But it's not essential surely?
As in if it failed, it should not really threaten your ability to get home safely?
If it's 'essential' then you should have plans and systems in place to cope with its failure.
 
What s
Wing Mark said:
I wonder if the people who 'wouldn't be without their autopilot' want self-driving cars?

Is steering tedious?
As a racing dinghy sailor, you get to the point where steering is something you can do while doing other things and thinking about other things.

For sure on a yacht you will want to leave the helm from time to time, but it's not as if the boat is going to capsize like a Laser if you just stop is it?
Is time that often so precious that you must make progress while you do other things?

I think perhaps it's a luxury that you get used to and would want to go back?
Like I wouldn't buy a house without central heating perhaps?

But it's not essential surely?
As in if it failed, it should not really threaten your ability to get home safely?
If it's 'essential' then you should have plans and systems in place to cope with its failure.
Click to expand...
What sort of distances do you sail? 60 hours across Biscay without auto-steering of some sort seems a pretty grim proposition to me.
 
Pah! My wife was on an ARC boat that lost one crew member in Cap Verde, then had a second member go sick for the remainder of the passage, leaving just my wife and the very eccentric skipper who refused to allow the AP to be used for fear of running the batteries down, so she had to sail the major part of the Cap Verde-St Lucia leg 2-hours-on-2-hours-off, hand steering throughout:(
But to answer the substantive question; an AP is quite useful for the occasions mentioned above, but also, on our boat, to allow both myself and my wife to participate in raising and lowering the mainsail, while motoring head-to-wind. ( At least it will when I install the damn thing :( )
 
Quiddle said:
What s

What sort of distances do you sail? 60 hours across Biscay without auto-steering of some sort seems a pretty grim proposition to me.
Click to expand...
Are you assuming singlehanded?
Some people would say singlehanded across Biscay is a grim proposition.

20 years ago, I did few long trips with no autopilot, it was not uncommon.
Not singlehanded.
Once you're in a watch system steering for 4 hours on, four off is not that hard. If you can do 24 hours like that, you can probably do several days.
With 3 people it's easier still.
If you're going to be on watch, you almost might as well be steering.

One might question why some people think they need to do passages beyond what they actually enjoy sailing?

Don't misunderstand me, an autopilot is a luxury I'm happy to pay for, but it only becomes 'essential if you pile in a lot of constraints.
 
What are your other "wants?" It is obviously not essential in the sense that you cannot sail without it. Consider the following:

  • Do you singlehand? Like having an extra set of hands.
  • Do you want to bother relaxed or occupied crew to steer while you do something minor? Or does the crew always want to steer?
  • The helm can become a tyrant on long passages. An hour is fun, 10 hours is not.
  • Faster. Sure, a skilled helmsman can do better... if he can maintan concentration, which unless you are racing and keeping the turns short, he will not. A well-tuned autohelm is generally faster over a passage for cruisers.
Yes, it is one of the handiest things on the boat when sailing short or single handed.
 
Wing Mark said:
Are you assuming singlehanded?
Some people would say singlehanded across Biscay is a grim proposition.

20 years ago, I did few long trips with no autopilot, it was not uncommon.
Not singlehanded.
Once you're in a watch system steering for 4 hours on, four off is not that hard. If you can do 24 hours like that, you can probably do several days.
With 3 people it's easier still.
If you're going to be on watch, you almost might as well be steering.

One might question why some people think they need to do passages beyond what they actually enjoy sailing?

Don't misunderstand me, an autopilot is a luxury I'm happy to pay for, but it only becomes 'essential if you pile in a lot of constraints.
Click to expand...
I think thje problem here is that we all have different ideas of what sailing is, what makes us do it and what we need to make it enjoyable.
 
Wing Mark said:
I wonder if the people who 'wouldn't be without their autopilot' want self-driving cars?
Is steering tedious?
As a racing dinghy sailor, you get to the point where steering is something you can do while doing other things and thinking about other things.
For sure on a yacht you will want to leave the helm from time to time, but it's not as if the boat is going to capsize like a Laser if you just stop is it?
Is time that often so precious that you must make progress while you do other things?
Click to expand...
Yes. Steering can be tedious if on a long passage & you just want to " get there". I think trying to compare dinghy sailing with cruiser sailing is pretty much irrelevant on many points. For a start most dinghy trips/races etc do not last more than a couple of hours ( unless back to back racing etc) Then one is back on the shore.
On a cruiser there is a lot to do. Prepare meals, passage plan checks, VHF radio calls - weather etc- calls of nature, watch keeping in busy shipping lanes in particular. general sail handling- reefing etc.
As an example--One does not just pull a string in the cockpit floor & watch the chute fly out of a tube up front & launch a flyout pole. One has to get it up on deck, Get the sheets fed out, pole ready bag sorted then hoist it, Lots more ropes to pull. Nothing like a dinghy. Certainly a lot harder work. Sails can need a lot more muscle power & just as much attention.
When one departs, or arrives, at a port there is a lot of work. One does not just stick it on a launching trolley & pull it up the beach, cover it up & go home. Port control, lines, fenders sails to handle & the work berthing. Gin to pour. The list goes on
I suggest that if you have not really tried it in earnest ( not just a couple of day trips) Give it a serious try first. Then ask yourself if you need to ask the question
 
Wing Mark said:
I wonder if the people who 'wouldn't be without their autopilot' want self-driving cars?

Is steering tedious?
As a racing dinghy sailor, you get to the point where steering is something you can do while doing other things and thinking about other things.

For sure on a yacht you will want to leave the helm from time to time, but it's not as if the boat is going to capsize like a Laser if you just stop is it?
Is time that often so precious that you must make progress while you do other things?

I think perhaps it's a luxury that you get used to and would want to go back?
Like I wouldn't buy a house without central heating perhaps?

But it's not essential surely?
As in if it failed, it should not really threaten your ability to get home safely?
If it's 'essential' then you should have plans and systems in place to cope with its failure.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what "other" things you (can) do on a racing dinghy while steering, but I can think of quite a few options that are available to me while under AP and yes, I would be quite happy with a self-driving car, just to enjoy the landscape for one.

Whether one considers some form of AP essential/important, depends on the type of boat and what you do with it.

We travel by boat, 50 miles is nothing and over 200 is common enough. I'd rather not have to be on the helm all the time and besides, I find it fascinating to watch the boat rushing along "of it's own volition", while I walk the decks, fiddle with the sails or just sit in our deep foredeck well with my wife, a cuppa and a blanket over our knees and the rumble of the bow wave below.

As soon as we have clear water and a course, the AP goes on. There are times we like to helm, for fun, when we are at speed and my wife and I will compete as to who managed to get the most out of our tub. Often my wife will steer to keep the mal de mer at bay when we have just left or are "fresh" aboard.

As a kid I built model boats. They had to sail and they had to steer them selves. When I moved up to a Sabot (similar to an Opti). I would spend hours trying to make the thing selfsteer. I never stopped trying since and there are a surprising number of boats that can be made to do so, perhaps for a while only or not very efficiently, but none the less.

So, do we need an AP? No, we don't really need it, but we enjoy having one and it frees us up to do "other" things on a long trip, eat well, move about on board, catch some sleep when we need it, take the tedium out of a motor passage and free up an extra pair of hands to fix something while underway.
 
.....Once had a chap sail up to our club pontoon - Tamar River Sailing Club - and we took his lines. He had come from somewhere on the East Coast, was entering that year's Jester Azores Challenge, and both his hands were blistered into bleeding from days on the iron self-built tiller.

After one of the club members, a Staff Nurse, had taken him to the nearby hospital to have his wounds assessed and addressed, some of our number spent the next few days teaching him variations of the 'Sheet To Tiller' method of providing 'self-steering'.

After the Azores, he crossed over to the Caribbean and 'points west', still using the 'STT' method.
 
On a dark star and moonless lumpy night crossing the english channel do you really want to spend the best part of 12 hrs steering by a compass, or let the autopilot steer a perfect course while you do what needs doing and have a much more enjoyable passage?
It used to be a right pain tacking for me on a very heavy boat, one hand tailing the winch, the other winding whilst ones foot was trying to steer the boat whilst hauling a large genoa.
Auto tack is just brilliant as its perfect every time. I will go so far as to say its better than what a person can achieve for my boat
 
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