Unlike most other competitors I will not only rely on an electric autopilot. My yacht is fitted out with an Aries windvane. I was told that it was one of the last devices which was build by her inventor Nick Franklin in the 1990s. During my circumnavigation I had my Aries and three Autohelm/Raymarine drive units on board. The only thing which broke on my Aries was a plywood vane which was washed away by a breaker south of Australia .
From my Autohelm devices only one survived my trip. The Aries is a heavy piece of equipment. It might drive you crazy when there is only very little wind and it might cost you some speed in certain wind/sail-constellations. But the Aries will not let you down, when it really counts. Take a look at the picture. It shows the mechanical brain of my Aries. Don´t you think that it looks much smarter and more dependable than the circuit board of an electric autopilot?
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