that is essentially what I did. I finally got my new AP commisioned this past week and love it! I married a NKE hydraulic drive to a Simrad 2402 AP. Both are oversized for my 35' boat and should not have to work very hard. At least, that's the plan. FWIW, I did an extensive look into what system to buy this winter ( thanks for everybody's help!) and discovered that most people love the one they have until it doesn't work. Sometimes they all break. I hope mine waits a while!

PS- I enjoyed the video Drake. The kite was very cool!