This is true. Unless something is wrong with the hydraulic unit the friction when the bypass valve is open is almost none. I did a fancy quick release once that was about $1,000 of machining and welding for a hard core racer. IMHO he didn’t need it, the steering was fine anyway. You could just *barely* tell the difference.
Joe Coquina C&C 35 MK I From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Frederick G Street via CnC-List Sent: Monday, July 09, 2018 8:43 AM To: Glenn Henderson via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: Frederick G Street <f...@postaudio.net> Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: Stus-List Hydraulic auto-pilot Charlie — there’s a big difference between a full hydraulic steering system (like on the Whitby) and a hydraulic pilot ram. You should feel no extra resistance with either an electric or hydraulic ram; the steering system will not change in feel from what you’re used to. — Fred Fred Street -- Minneapolis S/V Oceanis (1979 C&C Landfall 38) -- Bayfield, WI On Jul 8, 2018, at 7:15 PM, Charlie Nelson via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com<mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com>> wrote: My Raymarine wheel pilot has given up the ghost and I am considering a below deck hydraulic replacement. The cost is reasonable since most of my Raymarine stuff will be used by the hydraulic unit. My concern is how responsive (or not!) the wheel will be when the pilot is disengaged. With the wheel pilot, there was little difference. I have steered a boat with hydraulic steering once (a Whitby 42) whose entire steering (auto or not) was hydraulic. The response of that system was so bad I swore I would never have anything to do with another hydraulic unit. Of course, when not engaged I understand that the pilot would not be steering the boat--OTOH, it is still connected in some manner. Since I mostly PHRF race the boat, I need to have the wheel/rudder move without additional resistance from the auto-pilot. Is this something I should be concerned about or is the wheel 'free' when the auto-pilot is not engaged? Thanks, Charlie Nelson 1995 C&C 36 XL/kcb Water Phantom
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