wind helm steering

[Kurrawa]

  I am about to buy a Pearson 365 Sloop and sail it home to Australia. What are owners thoughts on suitable autopilots and wind steering equipment ? 

[Atavist]

I have a Raymarine X10 autopilot with the ST70 Control head... I don't like the control head as the display is not as configurable as some of the older ones but the X10 is a real work horse, rated for vessels up to 12ton, putting one on a vessel that only ways about 7ton gives one a lot of confidence in it's durability and longevity...

For Wind steering (don't have one but lots of my friends do) my preference would be a good old Monitor.  Strong, easy to use, and steers with a an iron fist.  The Cape Horn is also excellent but is much more sensitive and much more trouble for a wind steering virgin to get adjusted correctly and balance.

Good luck what ever you decide to go with.

[SailingSeaDragon]

I installed the Raymarine Below Deck unit... It has severed us well.. Drew has the same configuration on Dosia that has carried him from Charleston SC to NZ... See the link below to learn about Sea Dragon's installation.

http://www.sailingseadragon.com/AutoPilot.htm

Garner

[Kurrawa]

  Thanks to Atavist and Garner .   I appreciate the response and effort involved.  What would be a typical power usage.   Do i need a wind helm as per  Dosia   Thanks  Peter

[Leo]

I have Pacific Plus made by Wind Pilot. It has an auxiliary rudder to steer the boat. I can't give any feedback as it's in the garage waiting until we move the boat to the coast. The thing is built like a tank, large aluminum tubing. I bought it from a guy that used it on a 45 foot 26K lb boat. It got him from Alaska to Mexico so it should work for me.

Later,

Leo
S/V SOL 1981 Pearson Cutter #14