NavPilot 300 as a backup to NavPilot 711

[northcaptain]

Hello to all Furuno autopilot aficionados. I'm quite please with my Navpilot 711 after more than 10 000 miles at sea and one Atlantic crossing while sailing (mostly wind mode and auto mode). Hard to hard is 11 seconds and enough to swing the 47 sailboat so that you have to catch something not to fall. It could be a little bit faster but its ok for the kind of weather we have. System is HRP11-12 driving a Hydrive150-9 inch cylinder.

Since i'm getting older and the autopilot doesn't seem to age, my worst nightware would be that anything would cease to work while i'm 500 nm from shore. There is the FAP7002, the GP700 compass, the rudder sensor, the accuster pump, the remote Navipilot display and dependancy to a fast GPS = a lot of things need to work in order for the autopilot to be operational. This is not repairable at sea easily if something fail, i would not even want to just reconfigure it or bleed the system at sea.

So i would like to have a second pilot. Mechanically connected and ready to go in an instant and i wonder if i could install a Navpilot 300 +GP700 +GPS with an Octopus cylinder+pump.

I would only use this Navpilot in "auto" mode.

does it make sense ?

 

[FishTech]

What you have laid out will work just fine and would make for a great, isolated backup system.
A lot of larger trawlers run dual autopilots with a lockout breaker so they can never run both autopilots at the same time.

 

[northcaptain]

Thanks Fishtech. So i think i would need also make sure that i could isolate the NMEA2000 network at some point to insure the Navpilot 300+GP700+GPS could survive by their own.

Not sure though i understand completely the "fantum" do i need an RRU or not ?

 

[gtstang462002]

I believe that you will need a RRU for your application. From what I understand the “fantom feedback” is only for outboard motor applications.

 

[FishTech]

You can setup a separate, isolated NMEA2000 network just for the NavPilot.

Fantum Feedback will function on just about anything. However, I would always recommend a RRU for sailing vessels. Adding an RRU can only help the NavPilot.

 

[northcaptain]

Thanks for clarification. Just wondering on my Navpilot 711 i have a Accuster HRP11-12 and with the Hydrive ram the hard to hard is 11 seconds. When i operate manually through the Hydrive helm, i can do hard to hard in 4 seconds.

I've noticed when sailing in moderate condition (6-10 feet waves) that sometime the boat is a little bit late at correcting the rudder when a larger wave pushes the boat out of balance. But i have read in many post and also instructions that for that boat length its ok. Since the HRP is a variable speed pump, if i would go for an HRP17 which is 60% faster i could do hard to hard in 8 seconds and it would be much better.

Then if i do that i could elect to keep the old HRP11 for emergency.

I found the FAP7002 quite capable of dealing in real time with all the different movements and attitudes that the boat could fall into when faced into moderate weather. Could it be that i was too conservative when installind the HRP11 ?

 

[FishTech]

You have your current system sized appropriately. 11 seconds hard to hard is great. 9-14 is the standard it must meet to pass the rudder test. If you go below that you will find that the pilot will start overshooting everything and hunting.

 

[northcaptain]

Thanks very much FishTech to bring me back to reality - there is nothing worse than trying to do better when its already quite perfect.

 

[FishTech]

You're welcome. I have been in that boat myself a time or two.