Hello - looking to purchase an auto helm for next year and would appreciate any recommendations anyone may have between the Simrad and the Raymarine options.

Many thanks
Zander

Hi Zander,

I have a Raymarine ST1000 on my 235. Its quite old, i.e. it was on the boat when I purchased 7 years ago. I had to have it repaired once (£180) it got wet and decided to give up the ghost Works fine most of the time then on occasion, for no apparent reason, goes off at a tangent, needs to be re-set, then fine again.

I don't use it all that much - I sail mostly single-handed; drains the battery and takes all of the fun out of it, for me at least.

I much prefer a 'tiller-tamer' which I use when not at the helm and this works fine. So long as the wind is not too serious I find I can move about the boat/below and it retains its course.

Hope this helps

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Zander
Most seals only need the smallest tillerpilot, on my 26 I have used a Raymarine ST1000+ for many years, but it ran amok this season when water got in.
The next day when dry it worked OK.
At a cost of £50 more than the service cost for the ST1000 I purchased a new Simrad TP10 from Force 4 for £349.95 and kept the old one as a spare.
The Simrad is reckoned to be more waterproof than the Raymarine (and much cheaper), the only downside is the simple TP10 cannot interface with GPS, but I never used that anyway.
I hope this helps you.
Philip
rascal superseal 26

John, Philip

Very helpfull

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I currently use a shock cord as a tiller tamer for single handed sailing but would benefit from additional control at times.

Don't believe I would use the GPS input very often so sounds like the TP10 is the one I should go for. Will need to look at power consumption as only have 110Ah capacity and reliant on solar and outboard charging

Many thanks
Zander

Hi Zander.

I used an ST1000 on a Parker 21 for many years. It broke while I was on a cruise and the only replacement I could get was an ST2000. I had the ST1000 repaired and it is fine again. As Philip mentioned, the smallest of autopilots has plenty of power. As I have two autopilots on board now, I can add that the ST2000 is quieter and smoother.

ST or TP? This question comes up frequently on the Practical Boat Owner forum. Each time there is much debate and no clear winner. What everyone does agree upon is that water ingress is the main factor when it comes to reliability. A really good and inexpensive (but I see the price has risen by 50% since I bought mine) solution is to get a rain cover. You quickly secure it with one Velcro strap. You can find them on ebay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i...her-Covers-/143041895484 

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Ken - thanks for the response, does not sound like there is a lot in it between the two suppliers so will look for the cheapest option.

Disappointing that they all suffer from water ingress risks given the environment they are required to work in. Something else to put on my ever growing pre-season shopping list

Cheers
Zander

I have an ST1000 on my P235. This has a screw thread to activate the arm, whereas I think the ST 2000 has a linear bearing, so occasionally I take it apart and re-grease the screw thread with Lithium Moly and check that the seals are in place. I have had it for many years and not had any problem with water ingress. Although I don't have it linked to GPS, I do have a hand held remote and find this most useful when single handed and putting fenders and mooring lines out whilst approaching a mooring as I can alter course whilst out on the side deck. The only problem is that the o/b engine (Marina 6 hp) interfers with the compass in the Autopilot and makes it behave erratically. Fortunately this only happens at certain speeds and so I just adjust the throttle to cure it. The other feature I find most useful is Auto Tack when single handed


Peter (Zephyr)

Peter thanks for your response

I have managed to get hold of a Simrad unit 2nd hand that is still in its box and never been installed or used so will no doubt be posting on instalation issues next!

I did wonder about electrical noise as can't imagine the charging circuit on the outboard would be very clean given its simple design but sounds like only a small change in frequency resolves the issue. Good to know

Cheers
Zander