There has been some discussion of chart plotters and autopilots recently and most have been laudatory of Raymarine, so I wanted to post some limitations I have encountered that are well hidden in the manuals and advertising. Perhaps someone has found a way to overcome these problems, but so far, I could be much happier with my new e95 if they did not limit its functionality by software limitations. All of the problems I have I suspect are intentional limitations to require you to buy more equipment. I find it generally easier to use than the B&G unit it replaced, so that is the good side. Here are my complaints:
1. They advertise /racing related functions which include a start timer and a starting line input. I naively assumed that if the unit allowed you to input a starting line, then it would provide some useful information about that starting line. Silly me! As far as I can tell, the starting line function has absolutely no purpose other than to show the starting line on the chart. I assumed that it would tell you the time to reach the line which would be very useful, but no such luck. Even if one end of the line is a waypoint, it won’t tell you that because waypoint arrival has a minimum of 60 yards (which for racing is pretty useless). 2. I found that the layline feature of the B&G was very useful for racing. I had presumed I would have that same functionality on the Raymarine. No such luck. It turns out that unless you have a Raymarine or other speed through the water data on the network, it won’t calculate lay lines or VMG. I had a discussion/argument with tech support about this. They claim that without a speed sensor, you can’t get an accurate layline. I argued that while that had an element of truth, a layline is always an estimate and you can certainly estimate the layline making assumptions about tacking angle and speed from the GPS data. That is how B&G did it presumably. The prediction would get better knowing more data, but it will always be an estimate pending wind shifts, current etc. I have intended to install a new tridata sensor, but did not have time this winter, so that will be on my list for next year. 3. One of the reasons I changed was so that I had better integration of the chart plotter with the autopilot. That works generally, but could be much better. You can activate the autopilot from the chart plotter, but it requires many screen clicks to get there. You can’t have the autopilot control on screen all the time so you can activate it at any time by pressing a button, like on the P70 controller. More importantly, you can’t duplicate the P70 functions on the chart plotter screen. No Autotack and no fine control or heading changes. I was hoping not to have to move the P70 to the pedestal for easier access, but no such luck. Aries 1990 C&C 34+ New London, CT
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