Searching for a wheel auto pilot I can find only Raymarine. Have all the others dropped out of the competition? Is so, why. What is it about the above deck auto pilot/helm that drives manufacturers the other way? Am I missing something? (I did find one other, CPT, which will drive to a compass heading only and looks like it has not changed since the late '50s. Is it a viable instrument?)
We (wife and me) are not adventuresome sailors. We sail for pleasure, meaning we avoid bad weather and rough seas when possible. Our sailing grounds always have a protected bay/cove with in reach. I want an auto helm for ease of cruising the Apostle Islands and western Lake Superior. Is there any reason I should think of a below deck autopilot?
Geoff
It is an interesting question, and I have wondered myself why this niche has been abandoned. I think part of the reason is that there are so many advantages to a below decks pilot, and those seeking an above-decks system do so out of frugality, that it leaves little margin for profit.
Consider that the Raymarine X-5 corepack is $1295 (MAP) plus ST70 multifunction display for $519 (MAP), total $1814, and you install it yourself.
Then consider that a good linear drive is about the price of that entire system - $1800 for Raymarine. Add the "corepack" and display, a bronze tiller arm ($430), and a much more challenging installation, and you are several times the cost of a wheel pilot.
Driving the boat via the wheel in an ergonomic, attractive package that is onwer-installable is a challenging product design undertaking.
Yet, the wheel pilot is expected to perform nearly as well in most of the same conditions.
And, there are several advantages to a below decks pilot. First, these are generally more powerful, and will drive the boat in conditions the wheel pilot will not. Second, but perhaps most important, the below decks pilot provides a backup to the wheel-driven steering system, nearly complete steering redundancy, in the event of a cable or other wheel steering component failure. It is more reliable; I think a below decks system is less mechanically complex, with fewer vulnerabilities than a wheel pilot. And finally, it is out of the way - no unsightly wheel steering components.
But all of this comes at a fairly large price differential.
The only thing I miss from my wheel pilot is the very convenient wheel-lock feature of using the pilot clutch as a wheel lock. There is no way that I know of via the provided interface of locking the linear drive clutch without engaging "Auto" mode. I have considered hot-wiring this, adding a switch to the clutch circuit, but this would consume electrical power, where the wheel clutch did not. Now that I've rebuilt my pedestal brake it's less of an issue. Oh, and I also miss the convenient "double press" of "AUTO" to resume the previous heading. The new pilot has resume, but it's less convenient to access.
