Which Autopilot?

[tobble]

I'm investigating purchasing a tiller pilot for my Sabre 27. I'm sailing from Southampton to Bristol in september so need something that will cope with that voyage at least; This will be on a par with the most adventurous sailing I will be doing in the foreseeable future.

previous posts seem to indicate the obvious - buy the best you can afford, but I have two specific questions:

1) can anyone recommend one brand significantly over another?

2) is it worth over-speccing? It would seem that the cheapest of the two most common brands would do for the boat, but is there any benefit in buying the next model, or two up? My guess would be that over specced models would cope better in worsening conditions, can anyone confirm this or otherwise?

molto bene

 

[CPD]

I cant recommend one brand over another but being an electro-mechanical device, I believe there is every reason to overspec in order to work the mechanicals less. Less work should mean longer life.

 

[SimonD]

Can't really recommend one over another in terms of operation. However, Raymarine after sales service is very good in my experience (so long as you're in the UK that is).

My only piece of advice is get one as soon as possible and give a thrashing before your big trip. My brand new ST2000 failed within hours of being used in anger - halfway across the channel at the start of our two week summer cruise (that's how I know overseas service is pretty much useless). Early life failures may be uncommon, but they can be damned inconvenient!

Simon

 

[michael_w]

I've used both the Raymarine and the Simrad(Navico) tiller pilots on a variety of boats.

I found the Simrad steers with less effort, and kept a better course than its competitor. It is certainly easier to use at night as the main adjustment buttons are lit by LEDs. The Raymarine has a course display which is bit of a waste of time IMO, as I always set the course with reference to the main compass.

A word of warning, always help the machine by trimming the sails properly. You don't like steering with loads of weather helm, nor will George.

 

[tobble]

thanks for that chaps, I will inspect the coughers...

p.s. do many people name their auto pilots?!

 

[CPD]

[ QUOTE ]
thanks for that chaps, I will inspect the coughers...

p.s. do many people name their auto pilots?!

[/ QUOTE ]

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
I was just thinking exactly the same thing. I guess George is as good a name as any !!!

 

[spannerman]

George is the older pilots slang for autopilot as used back in the 40/50's

 

[Drascomber]

[ QUOTE ]
It would seem that the cheapest of the two most common brands would do for the boat

[/ QUOTE ]

The Raymarine ST2000 is supposedly the same as ST1000 with a ball lead screw so theoretically lower friction/consumption for the same effort and speedier response. Lots of unneccesary bells and whistles compared with Simrad but mine has worked fine so far. Paid for it with the proceeds of law suit against Simrad.

 

[Emjaytoo]

[ QUOTE ]
My brand new ST2000 failed within hours of being used in anger - halfway across the channel at the start of our two week summer cruise (that's how I know overseas service is pretty much useless). Early life failures may be uncommon, but they can be damned inconvenient!


[/ QUOTE ]

Funny that, our brand new S1 Wheel Pilot packed up 2 hours into our delivery trip to Holland. Now trying to get it fixed under warranty in Holland.

 

[tobble]

I thought that maybe the case, but didn't want to date myself! I thought "Sinbad the Simrad" might be appropriate; so far the information I have is making me err on the simrad side, particularly previous comments about Simrad being a rebadgered Roberts or something, who usually make commercial stuff.

 

[charles_reed]

I\'d hesitate

to recommend one over the other, but here are some tips:-

Don't buy one with a keypad attached - water entry bollixing the PCB is the usual source of failure; have one with a separate control head and mount that with some weather protection.

Go at least one, possibly two, sizes up from the one recommended for your boat, the marketing people are always over-optimistic.

Next to PCB failure, the weak points are fatigue of the actuator pin into the tiller and mounting pad working loose. Fit a pair of each.

I've used a variety of autopilots in 50K of single-handing and would point out that racing single-handers use neither Raymarine or Simrad autopilots as their first-line kit.

 

[tobble]

Re: I\'d hesitate

Charles, can you point me in the direction of alternatives to the two brands discussed already? I'm bugg3r3d if I can find anything but Simrad or Raymarine readily available, but i'm probably looking in the wrong place.

Thanks for the other tips. unfortunately I suspect funds will dictate that most other options will be non-starters.

 

[testmonkey]

Re: I\'d hesitate

Single handed ocean racers from minis to open 60s typically use NKE autopilots. Probably for a good reason.

 

[tillergirl]

Re: I\'d hesitate

It used to be that the smallest Navico/Simrad did not have the facility to receive NMEA data and therefore only provided the basic steer to course facility. So if you wanted to steer to wind (via a wind transducer) or to use routes (via a GPS), you would need at least the second level model. Forgive me, I'm rusty on the model numbers, I think that would be the 200. I have the TC300 navico which is ok. I think all the Raymarine models accept NMEA; indeed all the Simrad ones may do now but you should check if you are thinking of their smallest model and want that extra inoperability.

 

[oldsaltoz]

our auto pilot is called FRED:
Furkin Rediculess Electrical Device

Avagoodweekend......

 

[drk]

NKE

From this side's perspective - the french single handers use NKE and the americans who try it are trapped in programming and reprogramming to the point of frequent abandonment and replacement with BandG. Since those 'open' boats are so different - do these really improve on the Simrad/Robertson? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[hightech]

Re: NKE

"Prune" The silent worker was the funniest name for a pilot I ever heard.

 

[MichaelHomsany]

Re: I\'d hesitate

[ QUOTE ]
Charles, can you point me in the direction of alternatives to the two brands discussed already? I'm bugg3r3d if I can find anything but Simrad or Raymarine readily available, but i'm probably looking in the wrong place.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm not Charles, but you might want to consider taking a look at TMQ out of Oz, www.tmq.com.au . Good, solid, reliable stuff, reasonable pricing, easily repaired by a competent technician.

We're not affiliated with them, after fixing dozens of Raytheon and Simrad pilots that have been dragged into Fiji, I am pretty impressed with TMQ's gear.

Best,