First, I had a wonderful sail on Saturday, a ~ 32 nm race including about 1/3 upwind, 1/3 deep reach, and maybe 1/3 broad reach, give or take. Wind was 20-25 kts (so double reef and 90% jib), and seas were 5' at 9 sec, but this seemed to be 4' at 4 sec wind waves and 2.5 ft at 11 sec swell. (Don't ask me how these periods combine -- makes no sense to me.) Lots of whitecaps, but nothing even remotely breaking in a serious way. Anyway, it was exciting and I never would have been able to manage that singlehanded without the years of assistance you have all provided re: setting up the boat and figuring out how to sail it. So heartfelt thanks!
Second, my CPT wheel pilot was not up to the task -- even for short periods to step away from the wheel and adjust a sail or get sunscreen. Part of this was the belt, which did not maintain tension and kept slipping; that is something I can (eventually -- been trying for a while) fix. But even if the belt was perfect the CPT control seemed clearly not up to the task of managing larger, short-period waves, especially downwind/beam reaching when they were not directly behind but at an angle to the stern. Steering in these was totally manageable by paying attention at the helm, and required no major strength, but did take care to compensate as the wave picked the boat up, adjust as it surfed a bit down the face, and then adjust back to avoid being overcompensated at the bottom. Which happened a few times every minute. And the waves were not perfectly consistent since height and direction varied a bit due to the swell + wind waves combo. I suspect a windvane would have struggled too, more due to the shifting loads on the helm. This would have eaten my Raymarine wheel pilot for lunch, just due to the loads on the helm (the CPT is much better that way, when the belt is not slipping -- the latter is probably user error, in fairness to the CPT people.)
Regardless, it does not seem safe to have to be at the wheel all the time.
--> What does everyone do in these conditions? Is the idea that when farther from shore you just adjust course to suit the waves? Or do windvanes work better than I think in these conditions, and one should just use one of those? Or maybe one heaves-to just to put on more sunscreen? Conditions were exciting, but not scary (if one stayed at the wheel) -- and not unusual -- they just seemed beyond the autopilot, and the inability to just easily head forward to adjust the main, etc., was not great. Heaving-to might work for lunch, but makes it harder to trim a sail for the course you want, etc.
Another possibility is a better autopilot... maybe a Pelagic. Depite my distinct lack of enthusiasm for (yet) another expenditure, being able to leave the wheel seems important, and maybe I can connect a Pelagic controller to the CPT. Unclear if a belowdecks (even more $$) drive system would even fit in my boat; I'd have to look carefully. But before I think more about any of that, I wanted to ask here:
--> Would a Pelagic controller (or maybe a modern Raymerine thing, or something) handle that sort of sea state (especially beam reaching or downwind)? In an Ericson (34-2)? There is no point my spending more money only to discover I have another solution only good in winds and seas the CPT or Hydrovane can already handle, or which would only work in a heavier boat. It wouldn't matter so much except the conditions described are pretty normal around here, so it would be nice to have a better solution.
As always, any thoughts appreciated.
PS: For those starting their own search, some relevant topics have been discussed under:
CPT Autopilot: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/cpt-autopilot.21501/
Pelagic Autopilot: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/pelagic-autopilot.14867/
Windvane/autopilot choices: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/windvane-autopilot-choices.20054/
Recommendations for Autopilots: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/recommendation-for-autopilots.11407/
Second, my CPT wheel pilot was not up to the task -- even for short periods to step away from the wheel and adjust a sail or get sunscreen. Part of this was the belt, which did not maintain tension and kept slipping; that is something I can (eventually -- been trying for a while) fix. But even if the belt was perfect the CPT control seemed clearly not up to the task of managing larger, short-period waves, especially downwind/beam reaching when they were not directly behind but at an angle to the stern. Steering in these was totally manageable by paying attention at the helm, and required no major strength, but did take care to compensate as the wave picked the boat up, adjust as it surfed a bit down the face, and then adjust back to avoid being overcompensated at the bottom. Which happened a few times every minute. And the waves were not perfectly consistent since height and direction varied a bit due to the swell + wind waves combo. I suspect a windvane would have struggled too, more due to the shifting loads on the helm. This would have eaten my Raymarine wheel pilot for lunch, just due to the loads on the helm (the CPT is much better that way, when the belt is not slipping -- the latter is probably user error, in fairness to the CPT people.)
Regardless, it does not seem safe to have to be at the wheel all the time.
--> What does everyone do in these conditions? Is the idea that when farther from shore you just adjust course to suit the waves? Or do windvanes work better than I think in these conditions, and one should just use one of those? Or maybe one heaves-to just to put on more sunscreen? Conditions were exciting, but not scary (if one stayed at the wheel) -- and not unusual -- they just seemed beyond the autopilot, and the inability to just easily head forward to adjust the main, etc., was not great. Heaving-to might work for lunch, but makes it harder to trim a sail for the course you want, etc.
Another possibility is a better autopilot... maybe a Pelagic. Depite my distinct lack of enthusiasm for (yet) another expenditure, being able to leave the wheel seems important, and maybe I can connect a Pelagic controller to the CPT. Unclear if a belowdecks (even more $$) drive system would even fit in my boat; I'd have to look carefully. But before I think more about any of that, I wanted to ask here:
--> Would a Pelagic controller (or maybe a modern Raymerine thing, or something) handle that sort of sea state (especially beam reaching or downwind)? In an Ericson (34-2)? There is no point my spending more money only to discover I have another solution only good in winds and seas the CPT or Hydrovane can already handle, or which would only work in a heavier boat. It wouldn't matter so much except the conditions described are pretty normal around here, so it would be nice to have a better solution.
As always, any thoughts appreciated.
PS: For those starting their own search, some relevant topics have been discussed under:
CPT Autopilot: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/cpt-autopilot.21501/
Pelagic Autopilot: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/pelagic-autopilot.14867/
Windvane/autopilot choices: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/windvane-autopilot-choices.20054/
Recommendations for Autopilots: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/recommendation-for-autopilots.11407/
