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I'll just put a confirmation out there, that while NKE is bloody expensive compared to others, it does work really, really well. I've been looking for alternatives, but in the end if I were equip another boat for shorthanded ocean sailing (why would I do that???) I would get NKE again. I'd rather spend the coin on something that works than spend half the coin on something that doesn't.
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The Raymarine works great and I know of many division and overall winners who have used them. Is the NKE system better, yes. Does it cost 3 to 4+ times the price for just one, yes.
Redundant systems and spares are the name of the game with any autopilot system(s) for a long distance singlehanded race so if you can't afford a good back up for the NKE I would much rather have several ST4000/X5s/Evo system on the ready...... which is what I have. Still need to install the EV-1 which has been sitting in the box as the X5 is doing fine.