Tiller Pilot

In early January 2015 I purchased a Raymarine ST2000 Tiller Pilot as it looked as though I would have 5 or 6 days sailing single handedly in Spain before Kathleen joined me for the planned Drascombe cruise on Spain’s west coast.

Until I saw how well these auto helms worked during the 2014 Viking Cruise where a number of single handed boats which we were sailing with had them, I had never really thought about getting one, but seeing one on the internet being advertised at over 40% off the normal selling price, persuaded me that this would be a good toy to have.

Tiller Pilot in use

Fitting the Tiller Pilot was pretty straight forward as I was not wiring it up to any navigational aids so all that was needed was a fused 12 volt supply. Tra Bhui has a 12 volt system already installed, so I simply ran a fused spur from the main wiring loom to the socket which comes with the Tiller Pilot. 

The socket itself required a hole to be cut in the rear cockpit bulkhead with  a small hole saw as it is fairly flush mounting and when the tiller pilot is not plugged in a crew on cover keeps water out of it.

To mount the Tiller Pilot which is removed when not in use it is necessary to fix a small brass socket –“female fitting” -into the gunwale or buoyancy tank on one side of the boat (on Tra Bhui it is inset into the inside edge of the buoyancy tank) and a small stainless steel rod – “male fitting” into the tiller. The Tiller Pilot then fits between these two fittings.

As things worked out Kathleen was able to join me for the full rally in Spain so it was not until the Loch Lomond Rally in September that I actually tried the Tiller Pilot out.

The weather when I tried it was pretty rough with winds gusting well over 20 knots and breaking waves rolling down the Loch. I must say I was impressed with the Pilot as it held Tra Bhui on course pretty well. I only used it for a short time as I had no real need to do so, but I wanted to see how it worked.

The one thing I did find was the height difference between the buoyancy tank and the tiller was too great for the Tiller Pilot and the extension I had added to the vertical rod on the Plot which fits into the socket on the buoyancy tank meant that there was too much movement in the mounting at that end. This meant the Pilot was doing additional work to compensate for this movement.

Drop bracket under tiller

For 2016, I made an aluminium bracket which is fitted to the underside of the tiller and which allows the “male” fitting to be located at the same level as the “female” fitting.

Having just returned from sailing Tra Bhui in Greece (April 2016) where we used the Tiller Pilot quite a lot, I am happy that the new fitting works well. The Pilot has been very useful especially on windless days when we have to motor.

Specification

Raymarine ST2000 Tiller Pilot  - Removable Cockpit Autopilots for Tiller Steered Yachts

Invented by Autohelm in 1973, tiller pilots have consistently been the world's most popular pilot ever since, setting the standard for performance, reliability and ease of use.

AutoTack lets you handle the sheets while the pilot tacks the boat and AutoSeastate intelligently keeps the boat on course while conserving power.

Whether used as a stand-alone pilot or with SeaTalk/ NMEA GPS, the clear backlit LCD and 6 button keypad make these pilots safe and easy to use.

Recommended Maximum Displacement Raymarine ST2000: 4,500kg (10,000lbs)

Remember to always take the fully laden displacement weight of your vessel into account (often 20% above the designed displacement).

Specifications

• Power Supply - 12V systems
• Absolute Voltage Range - 10 - 16V DC
• Power Consumption - 40mA
• Weight - 1.53 (3.4)
• Mounting methods - Reversible port or starboard
• Display size - 45mm segmented LCD
• Display Lighting - 3 levels plus off
• Connections - NMEA 0183 input | SeaTalk
• Thrust 77kg (169 lbs)
• Stroke 236mm (9.3in)