Helia 44: Helia sloppy steering

[SailMonAmi]

Apologies if this has been covered, but I didn't see a thread about my particular problem. I simply can't say enough good stuff about my autopilot, but when I'm manual, there is A LOT of slop. To test this out, while docked, and the rudders in a fully straightened position, when I turn the wheel it takes a quarter of a turn before the tiller budges. Same thing going the opposite direction. Is this normal? If so, I don't like it. I heard all new Helia's are being equipped with hydraulic steering. I suppose that would fix the problem, but might be expensive. Is there a manual work around?

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by SailMonAmi

Apologies if this has been covered, but I didn't see a thread about my particular problem. I simply can't say enough good stuff about my autopilot, but when I'm manual, there is A LOT of slop. To test this out, while docked, and the rudders in a fully straightened position, when I turn the wheel it takes a quarter of a turn before the tiller budges. Same thing going the opposite direction. Is this normal? If so, I don't like it. I heard all new Helia's are being equipped with hydraulic steering. I suppose that would fix the problem, but might be expensive. Is there a manual work around?

If it's manual, adjust the tension on the steering control lines!

[cwjohm]

This is a problem well documented on earlier Helias. The settings on the wire were set to a large number of wheel turns (3.5x from memory). This is an issue that should be able to be fixed under warranty.