Ray Marine Autopilot discontinued for cable steered boats..

[digitroll (ron)]

Yes it's true. Had a customer come in to the shop yesterday saying he couldn't get the Evolution 100 by Ray Marine as it's no longer available. A quick call to Ray Marine tech support confirmed his findings. Nada / Done. Ray marine is getting out of the Auto pilot segment for cable steered boats.

They are still making the Evolution 200 for hydraulic steered boats.

Simrad still has an Autopilot for cable steered boats for people looking for a good unit. AP24

The next question is for people who have them is how long they will support the parts ie. the drive unit (motor)?

Another interesting trend is most new boats 17-19 ft are coming standard with hydraulic steering.

Some older boats have made the conversion or upgrade to hydraulic steering in the last few years we have observed.

My former Sea Nymph received an upgrade to hydraulic steering by the owner as well as Instigator a few years ago.

Smart move Bryan / Reggie!

[Shake-n-Bake]

I'm sorry to hear that. If the drive unit failed a motor rewind shop might be able to help. Hope I don't have to find out any time soon!

[Cheerful Charlie]

Ron is right and I need one. I talked with one of the sales reps, somehow got connected to one on the west coast, and he confirmed for me. They did have some problems with the drive units, usually with ones that were put on boats that were too big for the system by guys trying to save a few bucks. On top of that, they really didn't move enough of them to keep the product in production so part of it was a business decision. There are some retailers that still have a few in stock so I'll be looking for one of those and from what I can see so far, it won't be on sale at all. We'll see what I can find. For my boat, it will be a perfect fit. If i run into issues with the drive unit down the road and Raymarine can't service it, I believe it is compatible with an Octopus drive unit and I could switch over to that. It's not real cheap but it's a lot less than converting the boat to hydralic steering. Just going to have to shell out the kaching earlier than i planned.

[digitroll (ron)]

To bad about the business decision...we have quite a few in our market area being used. Good there is some left out there in stock and Ray Marine is really good about supporting them.

[BottomDollar]

Too bad they killed these AP's. I was seriously considering one.

Have any of you guys seen the new auto deploy Minn Kota? It's an i-pilot equipped Terrova that deploys and stows with an electric motor hooked into your 24/36v system. They're pricey but pretty slick. And for boats with less-than-convenient bow access like my cuddy, it means that you basically never have to go up there to mess with it. But, like I said, pricey. $2K for the 24v 80# before batteries and charger. I'm still pretty interested.

Just an alternative to look at for those wanting non-hydraulic AP.

http://www.minnkotamotors.com/Trolling- ... t/Ulterra/

Not selling anything here, just thought it may of interest to some. It's pretty darn slick!

[Cheerful Charlie]

I have one on the way from West Marine. Online was showing out of stock but the store in South Burlington was able to locate 15-20 of them in other stores across the country and is having one shipped and it should be here Wednesday. I was hoping to get in online and avoid the sales tax but wasn't able to pull it off. Saturday was triple points on my West Advantage card though so I'll have about $275 in instore credit I can use later. Now I'll need to get an X-4 and a troll master this spring along with a Navionics chip and I should be good to go. I'm really looking forward to getting back on the lake again.

[digitroll (ron)]

Great news Charlie! Good find for all those units at West Marine. They are excellent an auto pilots.

[Wallyandre (Andre)]

Lowrance is coming with a AP. One model is hydraulic and one for the cable steer.
Lowrance is with the big Navico company so they are using the Simrad technology.

http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Products/Auto-Steering/

[Gecha (Gerry)]

Wow, so many nice new toys... my wallet can't keep up

[fishmaster176]

Wow, so many nice new toys... my wallet can't keep up

Me too. My brain says yes, budget says no way. New steering cable a must this Spring. Maybe hydro steering.

[Cheerful Charlie]

Picked it up at West Marine this morning. Going to wrap it and put it under the tree for myself for Christmas.