Recommend an autopilot for a sailing yacht - 37ft?

L

Lucks

New Member
Joined
22 Apr 2008
Messages
8
Visit site
Hello everyone!

We are trying to equip a Bavaria 37 - http://www.boats.com/listing/boat_details.jsp?entityid=400080
It has a Raymarine ST60 tridata preinstalled.

Would you please recommend an wheel autopilot for it?
- It is preferable to be Raymarine we guess?
- We are putting a Raymarine C70 chartplotter.
- What are the options for 'steer to wind'? It's good for engine-off long sailing trips?

We are looking at Raymarine website, but we couldn't exactly understand what we need to buy /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Please give some understanding - as we are beginners:)

Thanks,
Lucks
 
Raymarine chartplotter, auto helm and wind instruments all required to steer by wind direction, great if you want to get away from the wheel for a bit.

We often use it and retire to the deck chairs on the foredeck.

Avagoodweekend......
 
Suggest you ring Raymarine and make an appointment to go to their service centre and have a look and demonstration of the different options. The options depend on the sort of sailing you will be doing.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Raymarine chartplotter, auto helm and wind instruments all required to steer by wind direction, great if you want to get away from the wheel for a bit.

We often use it and retire to the deck chairs on the foredeck.

Avagoodweekend......

[/ QUOTE ]

No. You only need the autopilot and the wind instrument to be able to steer to the wind.
 
DO NOT buy a wheel pilot, it will not be man enough for the job and will give you a frustrating experience. You must get the job done properly and that will cost you a bit as they will not be able to connect the ram to your quadrant.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Suggest you ring Raymarine and make an appointment to go to their service centre and have a look and demonstration of the different options. The options depend on the sort of sailing you will be doing.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks, Tony - but we do not have such one here - we shall order major parts online from UK. Otherwise we would have been there shopping:)

[ QUOTE ]
DO NOT buy a wheel pilot, it will not be man enough for the job and will give you a frustrating experience. You must get the job done properly and that will cost you a bit as they will not be able to connect the ram to your quadrant.

[/ QUOTE ]
If not "wheel", what should it be then?

Does these work for a the Bavaria 37?
http://www.raymarine.com/ProductDetail.aspx?SITE=1&SECTION=2&PAGE=161&PRODUCT=1573
http://www.raymarine.com/ProductDetail.aspx?SITE=1&SECTION=2&PAGE=733&PRODUCT=1577

Thanks!
 
Hi,

I would consider this package click, click

The drive connects to the steering quadrant directly and keeps the wheel free from "add ons".

I have used an ST4000 MkII wheel pilot (mounted directly on the steering wheel) for several years without problems on a Moody 376, so it would probably cope OK. But it isn't the right way to do it as you are at the top of the size range it can cope with.

Cheers
 
Much depends on the space you have below decks to connect the drive unit to the quadrant and what pedestal and linkage you have. If you have the space a Raymarine linear drive is OK you would then need a course computer and a control head for the additional expense it is worth going for the Gyro option. If you have the Lewmar / Whitlock Mamba pedestal then the Lewmar 1/4 Hp drive which bolts onto the gearbox is a good option it works with the Raymarine equipment. To summarise you must check what you have below decks and what will fit, but there must be some Bav owners out there that have Raymarine autopilots.

Good Luck
 
I believe a wheel pilot S1 will do the job fine. People will say it will not hold the boat in a rough sea. Absolutely agree. But on the other hand do you want the autopilot to climb up and down the waves at 90 degrees like they do not exist or will you choose to do it yourself in a better way? It's really up to you I believe.
 
Thanks, but I am not sure if the wheel S1 has a 'steer to wind' option?

Anyone knows what's the difference between "Hydraulic Inboard Pack", "Hydraulic Outboard Pack" and "Linear Drive Pack" - what's the idea and which one should fit the Bavaria 37?

Thanks!!
 
I've used ST6000 on 38' 40' awb's in all sorts of conditions, they steer to wind with wind instruments but in practice I rarely used them to steer to wind. Have one that works off quadrant as others have said, I've had steering cables fail and having an alternative is a real asset.
 
In practice we never use the 'steer to wind' facility. If we are inshore we use steer to compass / GPS as there may be shallows etc to avoid. If offshore and sailing to the wind we won't have had the engine on for a number of hours and therefore using the autopilot for signifcant periods would really drain the batteries.

What type of sailing do you plan to do? If it is lots of offshore sailing have you considered windvane steering?? (Note - I would advise this as an 'addition to' rather than 'instead of' option for the reasons noted above).

Also, there is no reason to stick to Raymarine, the Raymarine stuff you already have will output NMEA which can be read by another brand of autopilot.

Jonny
 
Agree the S1 steers to wind, as long as you have the windspeed/direction sensor connected, but no wheel-mounted system is as good as one with a ram driving the quadrant direct. Particularly with modern boat designs that do not always handle that well in strong winds/gusty conditions wheel-mounted ones all seem to run out of speed/power in rough conditions - mine certainly does.

I wish I'd had the option to fit from new - I'd have gone for a ram-type - and can't quite justify taking off an existing working wheel-type to fit one.
 
Thanks, guys! So we should be going for this "ST6001 S1G SailPilot Linear Drive Pack", right?
http://www.raymarine.com/ProductDetail.aspx?SITE=1&SECTION=2&PAGE=733&PRODUCT=1588
it's 2,000 GBP?!

Shall we buying anything else (cables, adapters, etc) that would be essential for mounting and couldn't be found on (virtually) "any" repair shop? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

And what's "Hydraulic Inboard/Outboard Pack"? It's 1,300 GBP, again with S1G computer and ST6001 head control? Is the "Linear Drive" worth the money - I can't get the difference, please help? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif "Inboard" or "Outboard" (does this relay to the engine? if yes, it's obvious but I can't really find if this is it).

By the way here http://www.ybw.com/forums/showflat.php?Number=1443104
are some good words for the hydraulic drive? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
i have the ST 6000 with 12v linear drive
the boat is a 37 ft One Ton Cruiser / Racer displaces kg dry weight proberblt 7500 in cruising trim + full tanks
the A/h is in "Full Charge" in all conditions in cruising mode its Brilliant now been fitted 7 seasons
 
Check the boat weight against the spec's of the S1 or S1G. I replaced our old Type 100 course computer over the winter and for our 38ft yacht we were off the top of the max advised weight of the S1 (9000kg). A Raymarine engineer advised I go with an S2 so that the power transistors weren't working at the top of their range the whole time. The displacement of my boat is only 8200kg but with full water and fuel tanks, wind genny, davits and dinghy, outboard, bedding, clothes etc, other kit and food for a family of 4 plus the family itself we're probably closer to 10,000kg (probably over!) and so fell into the range of the S2 and S2G which go to 11,000kg. The Type 1 linear drive is fine up to 10,000kg and we already had one fitted that has been working fine for 10 years so no need to worry there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top