Autohelm 4000 tiller failure

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by nuku34

wingssail; A really beautiful boat BTW, and must go like a freight train upwind (and be a bit of a handful on a run).

The boat is excellent upwind. In really gusty conditions (25plus) with a full main and 100% it can get away from you in a hard puff (best not be steering from the low side), but always recoverable.

It is fine downwind and reaching but it is hull speed limited. We really excel downwind in light wind and in wind over 14 true. In between we can hold our own. In 14 to 25 knots the boat is a joy sailing VMG and we always make big gains against the newer sport boats with assym kites in those conditions.

Over 25 true we just hold on and steer very attentively; the rudder works. I have never had a significant round down or broach, but it is not unusual to round up on a hard reach with the kite up, but again it is always quickly recoverable. But handful or not we look forward to those heavy wind runs, it is just so much fun.

We recently hit 10.5 on six hour beam reach under A2 with Judy driving which is a record for the last, oh, twenty years. But the helm needed to be attended to. The autopilot would not have done it nor wind vane.

We were double handed (photos on the blog).

[Shaneesprit]

Originally Posted by bergius

These guys sell the Chinese linear drive that Pelagic autopilot uses, adapted as a tiller drive for various popular autopilots.

https://pcnautic.nl/nl/autopilot/st4...ent-set-detail
.

In the picture on the website the motor is on top of the drive, have they been able to increase the drive length?
The RM drive is too short, when fitted to the RM drawing, reduces the angle the tiller can drive port to starboard. To something chronic. I really should just go ahead and mount my drive closer to the pivot so that it works more effectively.
I have an EV100 but think it’s the same RAM.

[Cynara]

We used a windvane. The last thing I wanted to deal with at night in rough seas is a broken autopilot