Do you NEED an autotiller on a small sailboat!?

Just my thoughts on sailing a Precision 18 sailboat with and without an autotiller after purchasing one for my third season with the boat. Overall, I'd say an autotiller is very nice to have, but not a necessity in most situations. I mostly use my autotiller to change between hanked-on headsails.
#Sailing #Precision18 #RaymarineST1000 #AutoTiller

[@coalfieldbeelovergerald3687]

Tonight your overview of an autopilot was helpful. Sailed on the inland PassGe 2 hrs on n 2 hrs off .. it would have been nice. But back in 1982 we didn’t even have GPS n made the over 800 miles okay as my brothers right hand man n 1st Mate. But your coverage n advantages were well thot out n outlines. “Not a must but handy”. Glad the vid popped up .. now off to Zzz 😴.. Cheers 🥂 Papa J

[@mvakleko]

How does your auto tiller know where the wind is coming from? Do you have a wind wane/indicator on top of mast connected to your electronics or you just set the heading/degrees ? Sorry I don’t know how this works wrt setting it.

[@ColoradoSailing]

The Raymarine ST1000 is capable of being tied in with a windvane, GPS or various navigation and chart plotting software. However, the website says it is not intended for transoceanic passage making. I sail on a small lake, so I just set a heading that it keeps while I take photos or grab a snack.

[@darb4091]

It holds a compass heading only. So if the wind shifts your heading will remain the same and you will need to adjust for the wind shift.

[@BTC6291]

How did you decide between raymarine vs simrad ?

[@ColoradoSailing]

At the time of my purchase, I was not aware Simrad made a tiller pilot for small boats. The only model trailer sailors ever seem to talk about is the Raymarine ST1000. It appears to be the most common model used on small sailboats under 22 ft. ⛵️

[@darb4091]

The Pelagic Autopilot beats both, in all aspects.

[@ColoradoSailing]

@@darb4091 Except price: $949 vs $450.