Raymarine Upgrade

[Tmacmi]

I am considering replacing our current Raymarine system with Raymarine's wireless T108-916 package along with their EV-100 autohelm.

The boat is a Beneteau 331 and we are fairly small time cruisers. A long trip on a day would 75 miles, along with weeklong harbor hopping.

Anybody have any feedback on this set up, tips or suggestions?

[George_SD]

Hi there,
No feedback on the wireless data setup, except that it seems expensive (i'm frugal). However, I did add Axiom + transducer + EV100 wheel pilot on our Beneteau 323. Works great, no issues and was an easy install (compared to bigger or more complicated setups).

The only challenge I can see is mounting the motor for the wheel pilot. On ours I had to request a custom made wheel adapter. They are no longer made and are impossible to find. If you need it - I have the drawings with dimensions and can recommend the person who made it for me.

Our setup works great and takes us on multi-day trips without any issues.

[Tmacmi]

Originally Posted by George_SD

Hi there,
No feedback on the wireless data setup, except that it seems expensive (i'm frugal). However, I did add Axiom + transducer + EV100 wheel pilot on our Beneteau 323. Works great, no issues and was an easy install (compared to bigger or more complicated setups).

The only challenge I can see is mounting the motor for the wheel pilot. On ours I had to request a custom made wheel adapter. They are no longer made and are impossible to find. If you need it - I have the drawings with dimensions and can recommend the person who made it for me.

Our setup works great and takes us on multi-day trips without any issues.

Did you find it necessary to intstall the rudder position sensor?

[George_SD]

It's not strictly necessary, but it does improve tracking. At first a ran it for almost a year without the sensor (didn't have one), but then sourced and installed one. It wonders less and makes more precise adjustments. Pretty easy install as long as you are handy. Lots of these projects require some creative approaches and a bit of custom work - brackets, mounts, etc. But it's not complicated.

[Quebramar]

I upgraded 2 years ago from the old Raytheon (20y old) to EV100. The rudder sensor existed but I replaced with the new one. I think skipping it would not secure the excellent performance the AP delivers- like when sailing F7 DDW with 10ft waves in aft quarter, the boat was just sailing as if it was a calm day. The system with the compass works so smartly, you can feel that after a couple of minutes it «*gets*» the sea state and the boat’s response to it. No doubt all components contribute to that.