solosailor
Super Anarchist
The all-in-ones are not in the same camp as an Evo in my experience and those I've raced against.
Autopilots
- Thread starter ResilienceSailingInc
- Start date
There are no "settings to stop the power" on the St 1000 and 2000 (http://tiki21littlecat.blogspot.com/2020/05/repairing-raymarine-st1000.html). There IS a sensor to stop the travel on the Simrad tp 22 and 32.
DanimalNZ: Our 40' cat came with a ST2000. It was fine for motoring. Or sailing in light winds. For anything else it was too slow and weak.
IMO the next step up in performance / $ is the Pelagic. We had of their rams on our boat as a backup to the Raymarine 4000 GP ram (driven by a Raymarine computer). It was better than the GP ram.
https://pelagicautopilot.com/collections/front-page/products/pelagic-autopilot-system-with-tiller-actuator $900 USD
They now have a heavier duty actuator model rated at 3200 N force (326 kg / 717 lbs) but that's overkill for what you want I think:
https://pelagicautopilot.com/collections/front-page/products/pelagic-autopilot-system-with-heavy-duty-tiller-actuator $1500 USD
And a hydraulic ram/below deck unit.
They're going to eat Raymarine's lunch because price is so reasonable; Raymarine
IMO the next step up in performance / $ is the Pelagic. We had of their rams on our boat as a backup to the Raymarine 4000 GP ram (driven by a Raymarine computer). It was better than the GP ram.
https://pelagicautopilot.com/collections/front-page/products/pelagic-autopilot-system-with-tiller-actuator $900 USD
They now have a heavier duty actuator model rated at 3200 N force (326 kg / 717 lbs) but that's overkill for what you want I think:
https://pelagicautopilot.com/collections/front-page/products/pelagic-autopilot-system-with-heavy-duty-tiller-actuator $1500 USD
And a hydraulic ram/below deck unit.
They're going to eat Raymarine's lunch because price is so reasonable; Raymarine
I have an older Octopus belowdeck ram that the fine folks over at Pelagic fit a control head to.
I hope to give her a real try in the near future. My 2 week yard stay for a bottom job became 5 months....
carcrash
Super Anarchist
PyPilot does seem intriguing.
I think I'm going to try two approaches on the Olson 40: First, a Pelagic tiller pilot, on deck of course. Then, an underdeck drive that I control with PyPilot running on a RPi or Beaglebone Black, something like that. The underdeck control computer gives me options to try various technologies, perhaps a machine learning algorithm that learns to just emulate what I do.
My boat had an autopilot that used an Octopus drive, and the person who created that autopilot is a huge fan of the Octopus drives. I never used the previous autopilot due to very many instrument and connector issues.
The autopilot I use now is the one solo sailor recommends in his book "Singlehanded Sailing" (that is at my right elbow at this moment): a rope with shock cord on each end. I wrap the rope a turn around the tiller, and it keeps the tiller in more or less the same place. Works pretty darn well in practice, but of course won't allow me to go to sleep or leave the cockpit for long.
I think I'm going to try two approaches on the Olson 40: First, a Pelagic tiller pilot, on deck of course. Then, an underdeck drive that I control with PyPilot running on a RPi or Beaglebone Black, something like that. The underdeck control computer gives me options to try various technologies, perhaps a machine learning algorithm that learns to just emulate what I do.
My boat had an autopilot that used an Octopus drive, and the person who created that autopilot is a huge fan of the Octopus drives. I never used the previous autopilot due to very many instrument and connector issues.
The autopilot I use now is the one solo sailor recommends in his book "Singlehanded Sailing" (that is at my right elbow at this moment): a rope with shock cord on each end. I wrap the rope a turn around the tiller, and it keeps the tiller in more or less the same place. Works pretty darn well in practice, but of course won't allow me to go to sleep or leave the cockpit for long.
I was intimidated by the octopus and the solenoid and the lack of a manual, but laid out on the bench with a 12v power supply, was able to figure it all out. A little bit of tape and voila, all wired up on the boat.
carcrash
Super Anarchist
Razr,
When I called Octopus, they suggesting doing exactly what you did.
When I called Octopus, they suggesting doing exactly what you did.
The Dark Knight
Super Anarchist
This would be a perfect SH AP setup for a 1D35 or similar
BOBO seems happy with it.
BOBO seems happy with it.
enargee
New member
Dark Knight, I really really like this setup and had something much like this envisioned in my head for my Mt Gay 30. Am I correct to assume that setup is a Lecomble and Schmidt hydraulic drive unit? Which model did you go with for what length yacht? What autopilot computer / instruments is it coupled with? Any computer calibration issues given that it's essentially a "reverse" drive and located much closer to the rudder stock? I assume this is essentially an adapted below deck system? Why didn't you go with a pelagic or similar system with the same install? Do you want me to ask some more questions
The Dark Knight
Super Anarchist
I have not done this as I am boatless, I am curious about the setup just in case I eventually end up with a boat with a tiller.
FYI the setup in the photos is on an Elliott 10.5 Motorboat 2 that has been successfully raced 2h in NZ.
There is a Young 11 with a similar setup that was done for solo racing, but the actual unit is hidden. Don't know what the drive unit is, but the AP is Raymarine. This boat has dual course computers for redundancy
Are you the new owner of Prion?
enargee
New member
Well thanks for sharing those pics anyhow, guess I need to find somebody locally who has a similar setup to find out more. RE Prion - yes, 1 of. So much for anonymity on the internet, guess I need to abandon my plans for trolling with this user account...
The Dark Knight
Super Anarchist
r.finn
Super Anarchist
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The Dark Knight
Super Anarchist
Not my boat/photos/bean bags.
But it looks similar to this https://mojobrand.com.au/products/maxi-lounge/
