I was helping a friend bring his 40 forty foot Manta Cat. back from Puerto Rico to Florida a couple of months ago and we lost the auto pilot ram just as we got across the Mona passage. We had some 40 plus knot DDW winds on the south side of Puerto Rico which might have put some extra load on the ram but in any event, it failed with 70 miles to the next port. We had to hand steer that last 70 miles and I have to say that at my age, it was not fun. A stand alone wheel pilot that I mount, wire up and then remove and store away prior to heading south again is at the top of my list. When I was 40 I lost my auto pilot coming out of Panama heading for Jamaica and I just hand steered for three days. It wasn't fun but it was doable. I'm not so sure at 65. I'd put on a Monitor Vane if it wasn't for the fact that I like my davits so much.... Tradeoffs, tradeoffs, always tradeoffs!