Raymarine X5 Wheel Autopilot Review

[boatgeek]

Originally Posted by roverhi

I've got one on my P35. The boat has an unbalanced barn door rudder that takes a lot of force to move as speed increases. It will not handle the boat under sail above about 4 knots as the motor stalls. It's not really a surprize given the high forces required on the helm. It has steered the boat 24/7 for 36+ hours at 6 knots in the open ocean under power without a hiccup.

Sounds like you have a weather helm issue. Seems to me you could try moving the center of effort forward a bit. Try easing off on the back stay some and crank down on the for-stay. This will bring your mast head forward and should decrease weather helm.