Trolling with cruise control

[Pennyan 21]

thinking of buying a sport pilot plus by raytheon so i can
run lines down riggers planer boards land fish ect. by myself.
my days off are during the week and cant always find a partner.
any advice--pros/cons--thanks.

[jake]

you may want to also consider the tr-1 system. check out all the features at http://www.nautamatic.com/ the main reason i bought mine was for when i fished alone. 1 feature they don't advertise is that if you change boats you can take it with you.

[pwrfshn]

I'll second the features of the TR-1 although I have not purchased one.

Still trying to convince the wife why I NEED one.

Good luck,

[DickM]

I have a sport pilot plus. It works very well going with all size waves and ok into 1 to 3ft waves as long as the wind is not too strong. Otherwise the unit cannot keep up with the bow flopping over quickly. I have mechanical steering with a little slop or play in the wheel, which doesn't help. If you have power steering, the sport pilot plus, I am told, works much better. It is very useful when alone or with two people trying to net an eye off the back of the boat while still at a slow troll.

[Gar]

FYI -- I've been considering an autopilot also, so I really appreciated finding out about the Nautimatic TR-1. Check out their website. The cost is an eye opener -- @$4300 plus you have to have hydraulic steering (not cable). So since I have cable I'm done unless I buy the hydraulic upgrade for about $600. They do have a kicker motor control that according to them is quite good. But you need to have at least a 6 hp motor (and if it's a Yamaha, their system will control the throttle also). That will cost about $3000. They told me that I wouldn't be very happy with the Auto-pilot (from Cabela's), because it tends to wonder and is not precise. So just some info, good luck.

[Denied]

I have a sport pilot plus on a 27 foot sport craft and troll several time per week. It does all I ask of it, as previously stated high wind and cross wave can cause problems but that is true of any autopilots that i have seen. I have hydraulic steering which required a feed back unit which pushed to cost up around $1000.00 total.

Tell the folks that are trying to sell you another make I said they are full of it.

dean

Fishing Lake Erie aboard "DENIED"

(I don't represent any manufacturer or supplier "I pay my own way")

[Gar]

Dean;

Thanks for the info.. I know that guy was trying to put the sell on me. Good to hear the other side !! I have cable steering. Do you think I need to upgrade to hydraulic ?

Thanks...

[ezmarc]

I had a sport pilot plus put on my boat last month and it works great except in windy into the wave conditions and then it wanders quite a bit unless I increase the kicker power. We ran into a glitch because of a jackplate on my motor and had to make up some brackets and change jackplate settings to get the reference probe mounted. It turned into quite an ordeal so you may want to check clearances first.

Time will tell but so far I'm very pleased with it. I too looked at the TR1 but the price made it out of my reach!

[jake]

YOU MAY WANT TO GO TO THEIR SITE AGAIN AND CHECK THE PRICES. 3850 FOR THE GLADIATOR AND 2099 FOR THE GOLD. I OWN THE GOLD UNIT AND WITH ALL THE FEATURES AND CONTROLS THAT ARE INCLUDED I FEEL IT'S A BARGAIN.

[Denied]

No feedback needed with cable steering as far as I know.
dean

Fishing Lake Erie aboard "DENIED"

(I don't represent any manufacturer or supplier "I pay my own way")