Autohelms, Tiller Pilots, electronic self steering

[Solace]

I expect the bulk of you will have tiller pilots. In this case, I am speaking of wheel steering.

I currently have Simrad's WP30 wheel pilot. It hooks onto the wheel and drives only the wheel, no hydraulics or fancy stuff. Sometimes it gives up the ghost and hoes where ever it feels like. I'm considering replacing it - just wondering what you all use and how you like it?

Thanks

John

[Pixie Dust]

Hi John.  I have wheel steering and the same WP 30 on my boat.  I sometimes have the same problems you are talking about, but not often.  Mostly in confused seas.
1 problem for this could also be low battery output or voltage drops.  Not enough juice to keep it acting right.  :)
After 18 months, mine bit the dust and had to be sent back in.  It was still under warranty, but I found it was for parts only, not labor.  Bill was around $90 and took about 4 wks to get back.   Never gave me a good answer on issue, but was a board problem of some sort. 
Interested to see what comes up on responses to your question. 

[Solace]

Connie,

Have you tried hooking your WP30 into your GPS? or wind instruments?

I had it connected to the GPS a while back and was impressed how well it navigated itself to a waypoint. I don't have wind instruments so I've never gotten it to tack or anything fancy.

Cheers!

John

[s/v Faith]

ST2000 here.

  Of course it is a tiller unit.  I find it develops 'wanderlust' at times also.

  OBTW, the ST2000 is a much better unit then the 1000 (for those who are tryig to decide and who's boats fall on the line between the two).

  I find better tracking with the gps linked in also.

[Pixie Dust]

Hi John,  Yes, I connected mine to the GPS and it did well.  I really have not used it much in that respect.  I tend to put it where I want it and then reset it.   I would have to even read how to do that function again at this point.   I do so much sailing in local waters that I have not experimented much with that aspect of it.  Maybe I will on my little May trip.     ;) 
I have wind instruments, but have not connected that. 

[Tedsomango]

How is it done there has to be a way, i know running with the wind it theoretically would work on its own but i need ideas or experiences, ! ??? I am a utilitarian with no money so a store bought standard auto helm just wont work out!

[Captain Smollett]

What do you mean by 'autohelm?'  Do you mean any system to steer your boat under sail, or specifically and electronic autopilot than can be used even while motoring?

If not the latter, then I would recommend exploring "sheet-to-tiller" steering.  Do a Google search for examples or better yet try to get your hands on a copy of John Letcher's book "Self Steering for Sailing Craft."  It's easy, works great (depending on the boat), will be an excellent back-up if you ever go to a vane or electronic gear and will teach you what you need to know to properly get your boat to self-steer (ie, balance).

The concept is simple.  The input to the helm is provided by the changing force of the wind on the sails when the boat yaws. 

On the leeward side of the tiller, you rig elastic tubing (surgical tubing works best).  You also run a line from main or headsail sheet (depending on point of sail) to the windward side of the boat, then to the windward side of the tiller.

If the boat shears offwind, the force on the sail lessens and the elastic pulls the tiller down, the boat heads back up.  If she heads up, the force increases, pulling the control line lead to windward and the tiller moves that way steering her back down a bit.

It's simple and has no electronic parts to fail or suck up juice.  The first time I tried it, I was simply amazed at how well it worked.

Letcher's book, by the way, includes detailed info on designing your own vane gear.

[Tedsomango]

that is exactly what i was wondering thank you soo much ;D

[CharlieJ]

some where on this site is our video of Tehani sailing in the open gulf under sheet to tiller steering. We used it for several days offshore. The only time it failed us was when we were without the jib, running almost ddw the last night of a 2 1/2 day offshore passage.


We now also have a tiller pilot on the boat. After the first day of Laura's single hand trip she called me and when I asked about the tiller pilot, she claimed "if I was to ever have another kid, I'd name him 'Navico'" ;D

Another book on wind vanes is Bill Belcher's titled Wind Vane Self Steering. I'm currently in process of building one of his vanes to give it a try.  Amazon has copies. They also have used copies of Letchers book Self Steering for Sailing Craft. My copy lives aboard the boat always.

I also have an excellent write up on making the parts and using them in a sheet to tiller set up. I can email them to anyone interested. I have several good links, but they are bookmarked in the laptop, and that's aboard the boat with Laura at the moment.

Edited to add- Found the link to the video- Be sure to turn your sound on- the music is a special piece done by a firend of Laura's son.

http://sailfar.net/video/gulfofmexico2.wmv

[AdriftAtSea]

just be aware that certain setups with the sheet-to-tiller steering work better on certain boats, and that you'll probably have to play with it a bit to find out what works under what conditions.  I've read both books and they're both quite good, but Belcher's book is probably the better one if you are interested in making a windvane. 

[skylark]

http://cruisenews.net/db/pagetemplate.php?cat_id=18

http://www.cruisenews.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=62

[Oldrig]

I've been experimenting sporadically with sheet-to-tiller steering for several years now. First, I read Letcher's book. (I had a week of recuperation from minor surgery, so I had plenty of time.)

Then I started looking at various websites. Here are a few. The first is very basic, mostly plagiarized from Letcher. The "jsward" and "dan.pfeiffer" sites are very informative.

And the Finnish site discusses building one's own windvane system.

$$$

www.jsward.com/steering/index.shtml

http://dan.pfeiffer.net/p26/singlehand.htm

http://www.solopublications.com/sailariq.htm

http://gamma.nic.fi/~poltsi/

For the first three years that I owned the Cape Dory, I was sailing with a working jib, and I was able to use mainsheet-to-tiller steering, at least when sailing from a close reach to close-hauled.

This year I finally got a genny (130 percent), and so I've been experimenting with some of Dan Pfeiffer's concepts -- basically running the jibsheet across the cockpit and using that to provide feedback to counteract the surgical tubing. I haven't had much success yet.

On Buzzards Bay, I don't often get to sail on one tack long enough to make it worthwile to set up all the blocks,  lines and surgical tubes. If I ever do extensive cruising, though, it will come in handy.

It seems like the key to this is, like so much with sailing, practice, practice, practice.

Good luck.

--Joe


Edit:  One Link Removed Because web page contains stolen content

[Tedsomango]

Joe-

Wow thank you very much I'm working on building one right now, the websites were super informative, and it was exactly what i was looking for, hopfully you do get some cruising done in the near future so you can put your skills to the test!! Until then have fun!

Ted :D

[Sandy]

This topic was discussed on another thread and I was hoping for more opinions/experience of folks . My boat came with a " Autohelm 1000" made by nautech. Last summer it decided to make 90* turns to port about every 10-15 minutes. It is in my opinion on top of the must haves for single handing. So needless to say a new one is on my short list.

Question is........ what make/model do you use. And what is the length/displacement of the boat.  Thanks
-Sandy

[Frank]

Autohelm2000, 20ft,6000lbs. Very satisfied ..but DO NOT have it on with excessive weather helm..balance sails 1st.Easier on batteries and the unit.

[Sandy]

Frank,
If memory serves(which rarely happens) either Simrad or Raymarine absorbed or started out as Autohelm. Sound familiar?

So I've been checking out Simrad TP22 and the Raymarine ST2000.
My hangup is this............is a unit rated for 10-11000lbs large enough for my boat,which weighs in @ 7500# empty?

The ST2000 is the largest Raymarine makes in a basic "all in one" package,without having to mount displays etc.  Simrad does make a unit (TP32) rated for 16000#. I'm of the school that bigger is better,but I'm also of the school that a couple hundred bucks is a couple hundred bucks!

The Raymarine unit is almost twice as fast(loc to loc). Both the TP22 & the ST2000 have about the same thrust. Cost is within 50 bucks.  I'm leaning toward the Raymarine ST2000,just not too sure it is big enough.

Thanks for your input.
-Sandy

[Lynx]

Sandy, I would go with the bigger one. Sonner or latter you will hit waves with the auto pilot on that will really put a strain on it like, going to weather under power or the ICW with big boats passing you.

I would also suggest that you get a zippered sock made to protect it from the spray.

I should note that I have a wheel pilot, Raymarine S1. Far to big for my Mac 26M which is maxed out at under 5000 pounds. I am glad that I do not have to steer those long miles.

[Frank]

Raymarine is 'autohelm'. I've had both a 1000 and a 2000. Balanced sails are important for either.I spunout the little drive once on my 2000.When it quit working I took the tiller and WOW...can you say weatherhelm! felt sorry for what I put it thru,used 5200 to repair and with balanced sailplan its been going ever since.

[AdriftAtSea]

Of course, it depends a lot on the boat too.  My boat never really has a "heavy" tiller... probably because it is a trimaran and doesn't have the problems caused by heeling.  I use an ST1000 tiller pilot, and I'm very glad I have it. 

The main weakness of the tiller pilots, especially the smaller ones which are fully integrated units, is that the water can enter them if they're not protected from spray, so Lynx's suggest of making a cover for it is a really good idea.

One thing to check for, if your tiller pilot is making weird course changes, is check to see if there is anything disrupting the fluxgate compass on the unit or below decks in the case of a non-integrated unit.  On my friend's boat, it was a can of Boeshield T9 in a locker near the compass... it would roll fore and aft, and every time it rolled by the compass, the boat would turn. :)

[Fortis]

I have found that hard-chined boats have more of an issue with auto-tiller steering systems then do boats that just heel over more. Any sort of cross waves really seem to get in and "grab" those corners on the back quarter of the boat and push it around.

Especially pronounced when going down-wind.