I wasn't comparing cats to monos in any way other than to point out that cats cannot mount and use windvanes. I also pointed out examples of monos that could not mount or use windvanes.

My argument about reading the manual was directed toward a person who was intimately experienced with using both of his autopilots and wrote an article containing a comparison of the two that drew an illogic conclusion. It had nothing to do with people who can't figure out how to use their windvanes.

My statement about spare engines and steering was tongue-in-cheek to make a point that one can either carry the self-sufficiency argument to illogical ends or distort it to make an argument go any way.

The loss of electricity can be catastrophic for any boat regardless of type of autopilot. Sure, a windvane is immune as long as you have wind and that is a great feature, but a catastrophic loss of power on any boat is going to cause problems after a day or so. Because we rely on power for self-steering and much, much more, we have spare batteries on independent and isolated circuits, 480 watts of solar, two high output alternators on separate engines, spare alternators for both engines, a generator driving a 120A charger, a spare 90A charger, and a spare inverter that can charge laptops, vhf and gps batteries. Even a direct lightning strike taking out almost all of our systems (both chargers, the solar controller, the inverter, the spare inverter and one alternator) did not stop our ability to generate power. It did take out our autopilot, but that will be rectified.

Sounds like our two different autopilots have about equal abilities to be maintained and repaired while underway - they both have rare and singular failure modes, but the rest is easily fixed with inexpensive spares.

And we are in agreement - at least on my side. I agree with your choice to use a windvane and not go offshore without both it and an electronic pilot. I also agree with anyone who chooses differently.

I don't agree that any point I made is wrong, and I don't agree that it is foolish to not have a windvane or go offshore without both systems.

Mark