Which Autopilot

[pillum]

Anyone have experience of a CPT versus Raymarine etc? I'm leaning towards the simple standalone CPT at present but it's mighty expensive for a standalone system with no connectivity.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by pillum

Anyone have experience of a CPT versus Raymarine etc? I'm leaning towards the simple standalone CPT at present but it's mighty expensive for a standalone system with no connectivity.

The ray unit is as standalone as you need it

Dave

[onestepcsy37]

i've had a cpt on my 20000 lb csy 37 for ten years and am very happy with it. just did a 2 day downwind sail from the bahamas to florida and never touched it or the sails. and downwind is usually a tough point of sail for autopilots. it it the only wheel drive autopilot that can handle boats over 16000 lbs. it's simple, easy to install, rugged, weatherproof, uses little power, and, best of all, has terrific manufacturers support. when you call cpt you get the company owner on the phone; he's knowledgeable and responsive.

having said all that, some people think it's too old fashioned. if uses a magnetic compass instead of a fluxgate compass. it cannot be interfaced to your gps or any other electronic gizmo. if that is truly important to you i could not recommend the cpt. if you're looking for simple and rugged, it's the best ap could buy short of an 'underdeck' autopilot.

www.cptautopilot.com

[robert sailor]

CPT has reinvented their pilot, well the compass part of it anyways. The new one has a modern electronic compass plus the course changes are like most others which can be done in 1 degree or 10 degree adjustments and it has auto tack as well. Big improvements but still simple. Has a lot more jam than the Ray unit and can handle boats up to 50 feet. Friend of mine sailed around the world on a 52 foot mono hull and the CPT was his one and only pilot.

[onestepcsy37]

That is interesting. I wonder if its possible to upgrade my old unit. Not that I am unhappy with it....

[roverhi]

The Raymarine wheel pilot doesn't have a lot of oomph. Our X-5 pilot wouldn't steer the boat under sail above about 4 knots boats speed. Boat develops a bit of weather helm above that speed that the pilot couldn't handle and would shut down. Steered the boat fine under power, once for 36 straight hours.

No experience with the CPT autopilot but hear it's got a lot more oomph for steering boats with weather helm.

[onestepcsy37]

just took a look at the new cpt.

one giant improvement is the 'hold heading' switch. beats setting the compass course adjustment knob. rudder and deadband controls are apparently just as before. i found that after a bit of fussing with these two, you get to learn a couple of settings that are ideal for your particular boat and the prevailing conditions.

the workhorse of the cpt, the powerful drive motor, seems to be unchanged, and that's good.

www.cptautopilot.com