Planning on a long sea voyage? Surely if its a private sail with your family you wouldn't want one of you to always be at the helm and missing out on the fun with the family!
Or incase you want to rally through oceans solo and dont want to waste few hours on anchorage to catch a few winks...
Autopilots - inboard and outboard - give yachtsmen and sailors a lot of freedom of navigating through seas while saving a lot of effort and energy - in the bargain, less fatigue and more time to soak up the sun !
AUTOPILOTS
An autopilot is a mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a boat without assistance from the crew. 
Most people understand an autopilot to refer specifically to aircraft, but self-steering gear for ships, boats, space craft and missiles is sometimes also called by this term.
HISTORY
The autopilots used on yachts are an adaptation of the ones used on aircrafts. In boats, an autopilot connects to your steering system and continually corrects your boat’s heading with information supplied by the compass, wind transducers or GPS.
The earliest autpilots used in aircrafts connected a gyroscopic Heading indicator and Attitude indicator to hydraulically operated elevators and rudder (ailerons were not connected as wing dihedral was counted upon to produce the necessary roll stability.) It permitted the aircraft to fly straight and level on a compass course without a pilot's attention, greatly reducing the pilot's workload.
In fact, in the early 1920s, the Standard Oil tanker J.A Moffet became the first ship to use an autopilot.
MECHANICS OF AN AUTOPILOT
Autopilots are designed to maintain an accurate course in various sea conditions with minimal helm movements. Because they steer so accurately, they will save fuel and get you to your destination faster, especially when connected to a chartplotter. 
Autopilots consist of three main components:
1) heading sensor (usually a compass)
2) processor and drive controller (the brains)
3) drive mechanism (the business end)
There are two types of autopilot, Cockpit and Inboard (also called below-decks).
Cockpit pilots are simple to install and remain in the cockpit in all types of weather. 
Inboard autopilots are permanently mounted below decks and are more powerful, more reliable, steer your boat better and can be supplied with a range of autopilot controllers.
MORE CONVENIENCE...
There are a lot of other yachting instruments that make your voyage more comfortable and the navigation more simpler. With the advance in technology you would see more and more of these in yachts around you.
1) Chartplotters
2) Fishfinders
3) Marine Radars
4) Satellite Television
5) Marine Cameras
Read more on these soon...
Jun 19, 2008
'Look Ma! No Hands...!' - AUTOPILOTS
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