Alrightee...I'll bite.
Not difference of opinion, Alan, difference in experience, application and facts.
Well, I guess our opinions will have to differ on whether this is a difference of opinion. Not a problem from my point of view in any case.
Pelagic doesn't make one that I'm aware of.
Correct. They make tiller pilots and below-decks autopilots. I cited them because Raymarine DOES also make tiller pilots, which steer as badly as their wheel pilots do and are just as cheaply made. I was referring to Raymarine quality and performance in contrast to the Pelagic (tiller pilot) and (most likely) the CPT (wheel pilot) quality and performance.
The Raymarine ST4000 you cite was discontinued in 2014.
Right. I personally owned an ST4000+ and know it well. So are you implying, then, that my criticisms of the Raymarine's robustness are somehow irrelevant to the later models? Otherwise, why mention this?
Now, from what I have read, again based on owner testimonials, the later drive units are
not more sturdy or powerful, though the electronics are more intelligent in the latest versions for sale. If they did indeed significantly improve the anemic drive mechanism in later iterations I'd certainly like to know that, and would modify my opinions accordingly--quite happily. In fact, I'd
love for that to be true, since if I get another boat it may well have wheel steering and it would be nice to add Raymarine as a possible contender.
You don;t own a CPT, so your opinion is hearsay.
"My opinion" is that I've read numerous testimonials from CPT owners, who love its simplicity and power. That's direct testimonial evidence from owners and not "heresay" or rumor. It falls into precisely the same category as your own favorable testimony here, and that of others like you who are favorable to the Raymarine. (They are certainly out there.) This, in turn, has to be weighed over and against the unfavorable experiences of others with Raymarine. And that goes for the CPT as well. (Not everyone I've read is wild about the CPT, by the way--particularly the rather dumb electronics it sports. Brian Boschma thinks the drive motors are pretty powerful, but joked to me that their electronics seem as though they hail from Thomas Edison's era!
That, interestingly, suggests a possible Frankenstein solution to the problem: A Pelagic brain driving a CPT motor--which the Pelagic will surely do. But then there's that exposed CPT drive belt and pedestal-mounted motor box that not everyone finds attractive. Ah, well. )
Is the Ray EV100, wheel pilot, made of plastic? Yes, the wheel components are. It's the proper material. Cheap? That's what we call an emotion-charged modifier.
I've never opened up an EV100 drive unit, but I have opened up the drive motor on my ST4000+ to replace a belt. On that model I found the construction to be shockingly cheap. That's not an "emotion-charged modifier," but is just my considered opinion having dismantled it and carefully inspected its innards. Is the EV100 significantly any better? I ask that sincerely, with the equally sincere hope that the answer is "yes." But again, from what I have read there has not been any significant redesign of the hardware on the drive unit. If there has been, let me know and I'll rejoice along with all of the current owners who have been fortunate enough to have the improved model. If not, I'll stand by my assessment.
I disagree--and so does everybody else--that a wheel pilot should be expected to cope with 18 knots and seas.
Well, at the risk of Alanus contra mundum, I'd say that a decent wheel pilot should be able to handle 18 knots and "seas"--depending upon what one means by "seas." I sail in Hurricane Gulch, and most summer days see at least 18 knots with often a 4' or 5' swell (or sometimes more) running. The Pelagic handles it with aplomb (Yes, I know it's not a wheel pilot, but my Raymarine ST2000+ tiller pilot would not come even close.) And based on what I have read, the CPT would handle this since it has a much more robust drive motor. On my previous boat with the (discontinued) ST4000+ it simply would not.
That's where wind-vane steering takes over, or a powerful belowdeck ram autopilot. There is no substitute in heavy conditions.
No argument there. Clearly the best choice for those conditions.
This sort of easy dismissal of the off-the-shelfRay wheel pilot, you're right, is common Internet fodder.
Well, my own dismissal of it was not exactly "easy," having owned one for several years, seen its limitations, and having looked directly at its construction. I was not therefore surprised to note more than a few others have reached the same conclusion as I--though not all, by any means. Mine did hold together long enough for me to sell it with the boat several years later, but I babied it and never had a great deal of confidence in it. And it did make some gosh-awful noises at times.
And I don't get paid to say that (or for anything else).
Not quite sure how that fits into anything here, unless one thinks that the detractors of Raymarine products are all receiving compensation from competing manufacturers.
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Well, thanks for the stimulating dialog! I'll leave it at that (on my end), and wish you the best with your wheel pilot, which seems to have served you well and appears to meet your expectations. May it continue to do so for many more miles under your keel, Christian.
