It is simply next to impossible to get one to work correctly on catamarans. Windvanes are also next to useless for any boat that responds quickly to the wind or travels at high speeds. They are actually dangerous on these types of boats.

One can't compare experiences with tiller or wheel pilots to true, rugged below-deck pilots.

While it seems logical that windvanes will be more trouble-free, in our cruising, we have actually found more people with vane problems than electronic AP problems. Many popular windvanes are complicated devices with dissimilar metal parts, fragile pins, joints and couplings, underwater stainless welds, etc, that require maintenance and do break at times.

And just about everyone we meet with both windvanes and electronic AP's use the electronic one almost exclusively. In fact, I don't think we have yet met a cruiser with both that primarily use their vane.

Since the costs are equivalent, why not carry a complete spare electronic pilot? Vanes are less prone to lightning damage, though.

Mark