autopilots

[mvilaret]

Does anyone have any opinion on the new MKII drive for the autohelm 4000. It is "rated" to 18,700. My 38-200 has a 14,000 plus gear displacement. I do a fair amount of coastal Florida cruising with an occasional trip to the keys and Dry Tortugas. "Serious" cruising is several years away. I was initially planning on the below deck B&G but saw the new info on the MKII. Installation and price are much more user friendly. I know for "real" cruising the below deck is best. I'm unsure which way to go and any opinion would be welcome.
Thanks,
mvilaret

 

[Geoff Johnson]

I have found a good source of info to be www.deja.com or whatever it is called now. My understanding that there are too things that set a great autopilot apart from the run of the mill - reliability and software. Any autopilot is okay if all you do is motor in calm seas, but if you want to sail down wind when it is blowing, not many will handle it and I doubt (without pretending to be an expert) that any wheel autopilot will handle those situations. I know that Simrad touts is "automatic sea-state filters" which are supposed to enable it to learn.