Monty Halls - In Praise of the Autopilot

Words by Monty Halls...

Here’s a confession to kick off the latest missive. I didn’t know what an autohelm / autopilot was until someone used it in front of me. There, I’ve said it. Might be worth adding - as I’m baring my soul and all - that the one that was being used was on my own boat. Which makes it all much, much worse; but, at least I’ve got it off my chest now.

The back story here is that my boating career had, until that miraculous point, involved short passages in RIB’s with me as skipper, or longer ones in larger commercial craft with someone else at the helm. I vaguely knew what auto-steering gear was, but as I’d got that information from intrepid tales of round the world sailors, had assumed it involved wind vanes, pulleys, and systems that invariably broke at a critical moment, requiring a 96-hour tiller shift from an utterly knackered solo mariner.

So, when we were out sailing - rather early in my nascent yachting career - and Justin (tutor, mentor, and mate) leaned forward and pushed the “Pilot” button on the plotter, then headed down below, I was unsure of my next move. Inflate my lifejacket? Grab a flare or two? Sit in bovine silence accepting imminent death? I chose the latter, which was just as well as a few minutes later he popped back up with two cups of tea, took a seat, and said “To be honest, this is what long passages are all about. Set the sails, make sure all is sound and that you’re heading in the right direction, and set the autopilot. Then you can relax.”

There it was again, that word - “autopilot”. Plainly this needed investigation.

Fortunately, the good people at Raymarine had taken charge of this issue when installing the kit. They saw my slack jawed response to their queries about exactly where I wanted to access the autopilot, and after a muttered conversation had simply said “Right, you’ll be able to access sit through your Axiom system, and via a separate panel in the saloon. Does that sound suitable?”

“Very much so” I said confidently. And what an absolute blessing it’s turned out to be.

In the very simplest terms, I’m a new skipper, sailing along a very busy stretch of coastline, with a mildly mutinous crew of wife, kids, and dog. In short, we’re all learning, and there’s a great deal to take in. But what a joy it is to savour those lovely moments when the sails are full, the sea is calm, the sun is high, and the family are happy. And the autopilot  is a not insignificant part of that process.

The technical stuff. We’ve got an EV-200 Sail Pilot that is accessed via the Axiom plotters in the saloon and the cockpit. We’ve also got two P70RS modules - one on the starboard bulkhead in the cockpit, and one (blissfully) in the saloon. The latter means I can pilot Sobek when the weather is a tad grim via a small dial - if I had one piece of feedback, it’s that I’d like this to be replaced with a giant teak wheel that I can lash myself to, but the lads that installed the kit said they didn’t do them anymore.

It was a momentous day when I did my first solo passage from Falmouth to Plymouth, made even more special by setting the sails, double checking my passage plan, and then turning on the autopilot. I’ve got a photo of me leaning against the saloon windows, smiling beatifically, with an expression that very much says “So THIS is sailing. I get it now.”

And of course, with the glorious bedlam of the family on board, it allows me to set a course, and then concentrate on the vital tasks of fishing for mackerel, making tea, and telling my girls tall tales about my oceanic exploits. This might seem blindingly obvious to more experienced sailors, but as a bit of kit it was revelatory for me.

There are longer passages afoot - hoping to sail up to the west coast of Scotland later in the year - where obviously the system will come into its own (particularly operating from the saloon during the more sporting phases of wind and weather). But for now, in the ranking of significant (and competent) crew members, the autopilot comes right at the top.

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