Few cruising skippers would argue with ocean sailing guru and founder of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) Jimmy Cornell when he says some form of self-steering is ‘essential for any boat that is going to be sailing offshore for any length of time’. Yet there is no requirement from World Cruising Club (WCC) for yachts participating in any of their ocean rallies to have any system at all installed.
Either way – essential or not – anyone who has endured a long enforced watch at the wheel of a yacht will testify that while steering a course can be a pleasure, being unable to leave the helm can also be a nightmare at sea.
More than 250 vessels took part in the most recent series of WCC rallies across the Atlantic – 142 entered the 2,700-mile ARC from Gran Canaria to St Lucia; 92 entered ARC Plus from to Grenada via the Cape Verdes Islands, and 30 entered ARC January, which is the same route as the November ARC.
The questions we asked each of these crews focussed on self-steering and we also asked for each skipper’s three top self-sufficiency tips. We wanted to know which was the most popular self-steering method, how the equipment performed, what went wrong and what the top tips are for successful self-steering at sea.
AUTOPILOT VS WINDVANE
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