>David Fritsch wrote: >How does this group feel about manually steering, i.e. without an >autopilot should the autopilot fail? Without manual steering? Dave and others-- A backup autopilot system is essential on a proper passagemaker. Do everything you can to ensure you never have to handsteer except when mooring the boat. On my first trans-Atlantic in a boat of my own, I failed to follow this advice. As a consequence, two of us hand-steered for more than two weeks. I still have nightmares where I steer and steer and steer toward a grey horizon that's always beyond reach. --Georgs Georgs Kolesnikovs Butch, a custom 29-foot passagemaker in design stage http://www.kastenmarine.com/buster30.htm