Autopilot

[Frosty Morning]

What does everyone do for self steering? Our boat had a wheel mounted Raymarine autopilot system that really did not steer all that well. We looked drunk under power and sailing it would only go upwind (usually too far) on mild to moderate conditions. We definitely have one of the Jason's suffering from weather helm. I made the mistake of buying a below deck Raymarine autopilot linear drive unit without measuring first so that was fun. I have heard wind vanes work well. What does the rest of the group do?

[Melatar]

Hello,

I owned a Jason 35 for 15 years, she had strong weather helm until I balanced the main with a yankee for a headsail. I had the cutter version so flew the staysail with the main and yankee quite often — the Genoa worked great for broad reach to downwind runs if I was not flying the asymmetrical.

I planned to put a monitor windvane on her, but did not get around to it before I sold her. Enjoyable winds to you —

[Alan]

Praise for the Monitor Windvane and the Pelagic Autopilot

I would recommend that anyone planning to sail a Jason 35 offshore install wind vane steering. I especially recommend the Monitor. I believe that at least one quarter of the Jason fleet at one time or another have been fitted with Monitors. I put a Monitor on Norwegian Steam about 10 years ago. It steered her from Mexico to Hawaii and from Hawaii to Washington State. A really wonderful device.

The problem, however, with the Monitor and any wind vane steering device is that it will not perform with insufficient relative wind. This is mostly a problem sailing downwind. In the trade winds there was always plenty of wind. In fact, we had two 160 mile days on the passage from Mexico to Hawaii, with the Monitor steering all the way. The problem arises when steering closer to home, when there is often insufficient relative wind, especially during the summer. Many who have depended heavily on wind vane steering offshore, find it nearly useless once they are back home. 

Another problem with wind vanes is that they will not work with the engine on because the moving boat creates its own relative wind which shifts every time the boat changes direction.

I had long wished for an autopilot which would steer Norwegian under sail, under power, and while motor sailing. I owned a couple of tiller pilots, but the strongest tiller pilots on the market were not powerful enough for a boat as heavy as a Jason . In Mexico, I burned out the first tiller pilot that I owned. The second tiller pilot never was any use except in flat water. I did research on under the deck autopilots, but there simply is insufficient space for one in the lazarette of Norwegian Steam. Installing an autopilot would also have required cutting the fiberglass tube in which the rudder shaft rides, and that seemed to me a risky venture.

Over the years some sailors have (apparently) been successful in hooking a tiller pilot to the lower part of a vane gear, the pilot replacing the vane itself. I wasted a lot of time trying to get this to work on Norwegian Steam, without success. A basic problem is the range of motion of the tiller pilot. It is designed to move too far. Replacing the vane on a Monitor only requires about seven inches of motion

Enter Pelagic Autopilots. Brian Boschma is a highly experienced short-handed sailor and racer from the Bay area. A few years back, he decided to develop a line of very innovative autopilots. One of these devices connects to a Monitor. Another is a linear drive that connects directly to the tiller and is powerful enough to steer a Jason 35. He also offers under-deck autopilots.

I was an early adopter of Brian's Monitor attachment. I purchased it about two years ago. I installed it on Norwegian Steam and was disappointed. The connection between the linear drive and the monitor was rather ad-hoc, and when I attempted to get the system to steer Norwegian Steam, she just went in circles. At the 2020 Seattle Boat Show, I discussed my problem with Brian. He told me that he had developed new connection brackets and that the system also had updated software. He upgraded my system with the latest components. 

I am presently cruising in the San Juan Islands and am very happy. The Pelagic is steering most of the time: under sail, motoring and motor-sailing, just as I have long wanted. Under deck, there is a black box about the size of a dictionary. Attached to the Monitor itself, is a small linear drive with an elegant physical connection system. I have installed the command unit, which is another smalll box, on the after surface of the house. There is relatively little wiring between components.

The Pelagic autopilot is quite sophisticated. It steers much better than my tiller pilots did, even when they were working in calm water. Here in the San Juans and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca a boat must often traverse areas of confused tidal currents. The Pelagic handles these at least as well as can a human at the helm. 

Connecting the Pelagic system directly to the tiller is an attractive alternative, because of its simplicity. The downside is that it requires quite a bit of electric power. If the engine is running and an alternator is providing electric power, that may not be a problem. But under sail, it is certainly better to have the power of the small electric drive amplified by the Monitor.

I am very happy with my installation. My next adventure in automated steering will be to connect my Pelagic to my electronic wind vane. At present, my Pelagic steers by compass exclusively.

[Frosty Morning]

Very interesting! I have heard great things about Pelagic autopilots. I was nervous about above deck autopilots just because of the weight of the boat and the strong weather helm. Our boat has a wheel so a tiller pilot was out. We had already had an older Raymarine wheel pilot that didn't seem strong enough and seemed to malfunction regularly. I seriously considered a CPT autopilot as it has great reviews and even states has worked with a Jason 35 in the past (plus it seemed easy to self install). In the end, I was nervous to try another above deck wheel pilot because of prior experiences. I looked into wind vanes, but it just didn't seem to suit our style of sailing as we are mainly doing coastal passages or frequent day sails in the Tampa Bay Area. I finally bought a Raymarine Linear Type 1 autopilot for the job, but after purchasing realized I really didn't do enough measuring or planning to insure I would be able to install it. The installation guide states it is an easy self installation, but that is for boats that are already set up for an autopilot not a Canoe stern boat with virtually no access from the 70s. 

I planned on doing all the work myself, but the task seemed daunting as it required cutting out existing shelves just to see if the drive arm would have enough space to fully extend, drilling through the rudder shaft to install a tiller drive arm (incorrectly assumed I could use the existing shorter drive arm for the wheel) and physically install the autopilot base in an area where I couldn't really get to as our boat just has a small rear hatch that I could only get my head and one shoulder in.  I consulted two experts who both stated it was impossible and I should start over with a rotary autopilot (at an additional 5 thousand dollars). I had already purchased a brand new autopilot and didn't want to toss it or give it away so I sat with it for 2 years. Finally, I bit the bullet and decided I had already wasted the money on the autopilot why not just try to install it myself. It took about a month of intermittent work and planning, but I finally got it installed. First I had to cut out and level the shelves in the lazarette to use as a base. Then I had to epoxy and fiberglass them to the hull to strength them in order to withstand the loads of the drive arm. Mounting the base was almost impossible because to accommodate the drive arm it had to basically be pushed all the way out to the hull. I could barely reach the base and could only through bolt 3 of the 4 bolts. The hardest part was drilling through the rudder shaft and newly fabricated drive arm from the rear of the boat. After that, it was smooth sailing just connecting the different components, routing electrical wires and setting up the rudder angle monitor. 

Although it was nearly impossible to install, I regret not doing it earlier. The autopilot performs flawlessly. It is quiet, powerful and keeps a steady course. It is night and day different than our last unit. It has worked in every wind condition we have been out in even if the boat is not balanced perfectly. On our last trip to the keys, I would estimate we hand steered for 30 minutes of a week long trip. It makes short handed trips and daysails an absolute breeze. 

[woy...@dryrose.com]

Good info on the Pelagic autopilots. Thank you! The builder of our Jason had set up for both a tiller pilot and a windvane, though he never installed the windvane. He made a rather simple bracket in teak that attaches to the pushpit to support the tiller pilot. The pilot arm then connects to a rear-facing bracket on the headstock. The pilot is an older Navico TP5000. Our boat was built with some modifications by Mr. Brewer to reduce weather helm. We’ve had no problems with this pilot, but I’m aware it will not last forever, so it is good to have some known alternatives with enough power to do the job.