Charlie, I made the switch from wheel to below deck AP. I installed the EV-200 Sail Autopilot but with a hydraulic Octopus linear drive. When the AP is not engaged, it is not noticeable at all and clearly has much less drag that a disengaged wheel pilot.
Here are some photos and a partial write up: http://svjohannarose.blogspot.com/search/label/BelowDeckAutopilotWork - Paul E. 1981 C&C 38 Landfall S/V Johanna Rose Fort Walton Beach, FL http://svjohannarose.blogspot.com/ > On Jul 8, 2018, at 9:47 PM, cnc-list-requ...@cnc-list.com wrote: > > Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2018 20:15:16 -0400 > From: cenel...@aol.com <mailto:cenel...@aol.com> > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com <mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > Subject: Stus-List Hydraulic auto-pilot > Message-ID: <1647c647973-179d-d...@webjas-vaa050.srv.aolmail.net > <mailto:1647c647973-179d-d...@webjas-vaa050.srv.aolmail.net>> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > 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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