Charlie — there’s a big difference between a full hydraulic steering system (like on the Whitby) and a hydraulic pilot ram. You should feel no extra resistance with either an electric or hydraulic ram; the steering system will not change in feel from what you’re used to.
— Fred Fred Street -- Minneapolis S/V Oceanis (1979 C&C Landfall 38) -- Bayfield, WI > On Jul 8, 2018, at 7:15 PM, Charlie Nelson via CnC-List > <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > My Raymarine wheel pilot has given up the ghost and I am considering a below > deck hydraulic replacement. The cost is reasonable since most of my Raymarine > stuff will be used by the hydraulic unit. > > My concern is how responsive (or not!) the wheel will be when the pilot is > disengaged. With the wheel pilot, there was little difference. > > I have steered a boat with hydraulic steering once (a Whitby 42) whose entire > steering (auto or not) was hydraulic. The response of > that system was so bad I swore I would never have anything to do with another > hydraulic unit. > > Of course, when not engaged I understand that the pilot would not be steering > the boat--OTOH, it is still connected in some manner. > > Since I mostly PHRF race the boat, I need to have the wheel/rudder move > without additional resistance from the auto-pilot. > > Is this something I should be concerned about or is the wheel 'free' when the > auto-pilot is not engaged? > > Thanks, > > Charlie Nelson > 1995 C&C 36 XL/kcb > Water Phantom
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