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Interesting story, but their autopilot mount really was suspect..

just shows how much you can depend on "experts". In the narrative, the electronics expert in NZ had called it "the best installation...he had seen". Yet it is a lozenging parallelogram made from floppy 1/4 SS plate. The surprising thing is not that it broke, but that it lasted that long. An engineer did not design that, if he did he should be defrocked and caned. Autopilot rams take a lot of force. On that boat maybe 1000 lbs working load, should have been designed for at least 2000 lbs ultimate and preferably 4000 lbs.

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