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Autopilot upgrade advice needed

Discussion in 'Electronics' started by gcsi, Nov 12, 2025 at 3:01 PM.

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  1. gcsi, Nov 12, 2025 at 3:01 PM
    #1
    gcsi

    gcsi Senior Member

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    I own a 2002 75’ Hatteras MY.

    Mission: Typically coastal cruising with occasion multi day offshore “death marches” when moving boat north or south. Majority of time at displacement speeds and approximately 10% of total time at 20kt cruise.

    Equipment: Legacy NavNet 3D, Simrad AP20 Pilot that’s getting tired. Very happy with 3D and have no desire to go with latest/greatest.

    Am actively considering either Garmin or Furuno. The core of each system is as follows.
    Garmin: Reactor 40 Autopilot with Smartpump v2 and GHC50
    Furuno: Furuno NavPilot 711C, 1724 pump.

    Furuno NavPilot 1000. Is this system overkill??? Website says larger boats (up to 100m) and luxury yacht’s. What exactly is a larger boat or a luxury yacht???

    My gut reaction is to stay with Furuno products. I’m experienced with Garmin in aviation. Aviation support is excellent, planned obsolescence of products is disconcerting. My experience with Furuno support over the decades has been consistently outstanding even on older systems.

    I’m keenly interested in user feedback on the above products. Does anyone have direct experience with the NavPilot 1000 system?
  2. Capt J, Nov 12, 2025 at 3:38 PM
    #2
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    How is your existing autopilot getting tired? Autopilots generally work or they don't. That being said I've run a few Furuno autopilot boats several years back and lots of error messages. If it was rough they'd kick off on an error message etc. I would stick to simrad for autopilot, you could upgrade to a newer one. The Simrad autopilots are rock solid, I've seen multiple hardware failures with garmin, and in use failures with furuno.
  3. gcsi, Nov 12, 2025 at 4:00 PM
    #3
    gcsi

    gcsi Senior Member

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    The system is generally just getting less precise. Generally speaking, I holds a good course in calm seas, but when it gets snotty I can hand steer a better course. In years past, I could not hand steer as accurately as the pilot.

    Additionally, parts are no longer available; so repairs are completed utilizing salvaged parts (just replaced a pump last year and a screen last week). I assume the sloppiness of holding a course is a function of a worn pump.

    Essentially, the unit is no longer supported and past its useful life. The question becomes, what replacement?

    As a side note, Furuno still actively supports similarly aged products; hence the preference…
  4. Capt J, Nov 12, 2025 at 4:09 PM
    #4
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    New Simrad. Every Furuno one I've run, they were on newer Hatteras 75's and 90's, had a tendancy to kick off with an error message when seas kicked up and you didn't hear the beeping and all of a sudden notice you're 20-30 degrees off course. Garmins burn up pumps and boards here and there from what I've seen. The new Simrads are very adjustable for both low speed and high speed (easy to modify setting stronger/weaker) and hold a great course in any sea state and are just flat out reliable. Yours probably just needs compass swung again and new sea trial, but if you want to upgrade, upgrade.
  5. Pascal, Nov 12, 2025 at 5:12 PM
    #5
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Earlier this year I installed Simrad AP on my 53. Easy install and setup, works great. Pretty cheap too.

    AP44, NAC 3 black box and RPU pump plus the NMEA 2000 rudder feedback.
  6. Capt Ralph, Nov 12, 2025 at 6:04 PM
    #6
    Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Yes, Simrad.
  7. d_meister, Nov 13, 2025 at 10:59 AM
    #7
    d_meister

    d_meister Senior Member

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    There's also the thing about key-pad and menu tree logic. If you're familiar with Simrad, you can hit the ground running. Furuno and Garmin would require re-training.