Cruising Sailors Forum Archive

Dear Mr. Johnson . . . (pic)

Last week I took delivery of a brand new Island Piglet 54000 with your new Porcnav sailcontrol navigations system. I want to return this prodcut for a full refund because it is defective.

I took my new boat out for a spin on a crystal clear fall day, with a light breeze out of the south -- it seemed like the perfect day to try out your automated sail control navigation system. Upon clearing the last of the harbor buoys, I punched in a sea buoy that was about 4 miles away off to sea.

Imagine my surprise when, instead of heading straight for the sea buoy, my new boat set off at something like an angle to the proper course. Not only that, the PorcNav sailcontrol system insisted on pulling in all the ropes to the sails until they were way too close to the middle of the boat. This made the boat heel something like 85 or 90 degrees -- I know this because all of the wineglasses we left on the countertop in the kitchen fell over onto the floor and broke. My wife was very upset, and says she will not sail on this boat again.

I know I had the course set correctly, because I could see the buoy highlighted in the 3D Nav display in the cockpit. I tried re-setting the course, but every time, the PorcNav insisted on sailing off at an angle to the correct direction. After about five minutes, the PorcNav went crazy -- it steered the boat around in a way that made all the sails shake. I gave up at that point and turned off the sails, started the motor, and went back to the marina.

Please send me my money back. Your computer has no idea how to sail a boat. I think I will buy a Krogen 7000, which will go on a straight course where I tell it ti.

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