Originally Posted by
CRC1965
I am curious if you have purchased the NKE system. I went way over the top on my J/88 and did. I think you will find if you look at B&G it comes in quite a few flavors and they offer similar systems for similar dollars. I love my system.....but the interface is not a clean as the B&G; and support is further away and in French ;-).
The pilot drives the boat beautifully in waves with the kite up (Waves being 4-6 foot coastal Coastal CA and SF Bay)..so far.
The reason I purchased the system is the remote....it offers a "fail safe" mode that puts the boat head to wind if separated from the system by 50 feet or so. I have not tested it yet...it gives me some peace of mind. Realistically if you fell of the boat with the kite up, even if the boat went head to wind it would probably drift aways faster than one could swim.....but I try not to think about that.
Also, they Raymarine Products offer a lot of bang for the buck and don't forget to look at Pelagic Autopilot!!!!!