The wind bit is far from useless. It has the same alternator and blades as the D400 wind turbine. The problem is its noisy due to the bevel gear at the top. The gear is open under a shroud and needs regular greasing. Mine is 19 years old. One of first ever made. We don't often use the wind mode these days as we have so much solar.
As per a previous post I am baffled by the crew of 4 finding it a nightmare. If anything with 2 hours steering, 2 on standby then 4 completely off the problem was filling the 6 hours each time with little or nothing to do. The 2 hours on the helm could be a challenge especially at night but it was great to be challenged for 2 hours three times every 24. It alleviated both boredom and any anxiety a lot.
They had bad weather on a West to East passage, not the easy downhill trip the other way. One of the crew was a none sailor who wasn't keen on steering at night. Captain's girlfriend.
Because we were doing a delivery and had never met each other and had never been on the boat the anxiety was there from time to time and as the others had brought no books or music I’m not sure how they filled their time after the checks above which took under an hour a day. We had no communication back then. I’d had to cut my books down to just 3 and get rid of other personal gear as I was suddenly asked to bring a life raft from Portsmouth to La Rochelle by ferry and trains. Steering was one of the best bits.
Interesting! My D400 is faultless since 2014 but yes solar is King. So I am assuming when you stick it in the water as a towed gennny it is top stuff and recommended? These Watt&Sea ones seem very fragile.
As a towed generator it is excellent and powerful. It makes way more power in water mode than wind.
Except that in a boat with a wheel plus below deck autopilot (typically only 36 plus feet), if the weather is inclement the autopilot is steering anyway.
It seems to be the general opinion that tiller pilots aren’t as good. Having never had a wheel, I’m unqualified to comment. My tiller pilot is mostly fine, but our use is limited. We don’t cross oceans, and the boat obviously likes to be hand steered.
A friend of mine did many long distance ocean sails mainly single handed with small tiller pilots and wind self steering. He had multiple failures of the tillerpilots and got through several of them over a period of time. Most suffered from water ingress. He also cited the nylon gears in some of them as simply wearing out. The nylon gear wear also happens on some of the older Raymarine below deck drive units.Yes I noted the opinions of some. I posted earlier that I think the matter may be because with a Tillerpilot - its easy to 'save a few quid' and buy a minimal unit to do the job. But with Wheel pilots its not so easy to choose inadequate unit.
I also have an opinion that the use of any covering .. whether its a DIY canvas bag job or the manufacturers - they can hold water / damp and then Tillerpilot suffers ...
I have had my AH's out in terrible weather without covers .... worked without fault. An example was caught in a thunderstorm crossing Baltic ..... had about 7hrs of torrential rain .... AH plodded on fine .... sea's were 'confused' making steady helm a pain ..
Its to be noted that my Tillerpilots are 'ancient' ..... both have had an odd replacement electronic part on the board, one needed the compass changed ... I have a 'donor' AF1000 as there is no chance of service now. Pal of mine is a dab hand with electronics.
Given their age - I am totally impressed by their performance and I honestly expect them to carry on for another few years yet !!
Interesting thing is that the 800 has same internal boards / compass / rods / screw drive as the 1000 .... it appears that the its only a different motor.
They were the offerings from major manufacturers and sized accordingly for his boat. They failed due to poor design. Water ingress and plastic gears. I don't think the manufacturer expect people to cross oceans with such kit. It's leisure kit for moderate use and they wouldn't expect the kind of constant use that my pal did. He was pretty scathing of all of them. I don't think its much different really with some of the below deck autopilot. They are generally not designed to take the abuse of multiple ocean crossings. I have done a couple of crossings with one new Raymarine drive that didn't get used constantly as we also have wind steering. The Raymarine drive is now decidedly noisy. I do have a new spare one though.As I said ... its too easy to have inadequate spec'd Tillerpilot on a boat ....
My Sunrider25 is supposed to be fine on a TP10 .... but I would not want to have it working hour after hour .... when I bought the boat many years ago - it came with the AH800 .... lets say its comparable to the TP10 ... both being the smallest pilots in their respective brands at the time.
My previous boat - Snapdragon 23 - I had bought the AH1000 ... but sold the boat before fitting it. That AH100 then became my primary pilot for the SR25. Its rated for a 30ft'r ... so by specs more than enough for the boat.
Both AH 800 and AH1000 .... the PUSH button without digital display versions I have ... are 1980's vintage .....
With my wired remote ... its nice to sit on coachroof and enjoy the 'view' while still in command ... wire is long enough - I can hoist / drop sails ... even deliver the odd glass of plonk to the 'misses' for'd ...
Navigating Stockholm Archipelago .....
I've read some amusing old posts where some have confused the old Compass Rose on top version with the later non digital display versions.
What I will say - is that the most common fault with the AH's I have .... the plugs and external connector. I have replaced the original remote connector socket with a better version having got fed up with the original socket.
From my experience of multihulsl you are likely to have far more directional stability than a sporty light monohull. You don't get knocked of course so easily be quartering seas. A lot easier life for the autopilot.
That may well be so. Cats in particular, tris do turn more easily, but probably not as twitchy as, say, a small/medium J boat. Maybe there's also more of a cost element when specifying. Our boat when new was horrifically expensive, the extra for a better TP would be chicken feed. Ours came with the boat, even better?
