On Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:36:06 -0700, Gordon wrote:

I'm curious about the S1. Raymarine says it is rated to 16,500 lbs but
I would guess the Rhodes 41 loaded

probably exceeds that by a bit. So how much time/miles do you have on
it and how is the performance in the slop?
Thanks
G

By quite a bit, displacement is 24,000 lbs. I really don't understand
that displacement rating. I always go with if a human can steer it, an
autopilot can. I had a 4000+ on a Coranado 35 and it steered over
12,000 nautical miles with no problems, including 15 ft folowing seas.
A friend put one on his 40,000 lb trawler and it worked fine.

Only a couple thousand miles on the Rhodes, but it's done fine on all
points of sail and under power. Twice the S1 turned off with a
"locked" error. Both times under power while pushing through mud.
Under those conditions it's all I can do to budge the wheel with both
hands.

Rick