Initially I thought the steering rack had simply worn out after 20 years based upon photos in Bill’s Amel book. Upon disassembly I think I overstressed a weak point in the steering/autopilot system and it simply failed. I’d like to know if anyone else ran across this. We had completed a 200nm passage across the Gulf of St. Lawrence with a moderately heavy swell on our aft starboard quarter. We were alternately motor sailing and motoring because the winds were light to non-existent. Ideal conditions for seasickness with rolling, pitching, and yawing with each following sea. It happened that we were running with the Garmin autopilot that drives the chain linked directly to the helm. It sounded like it was working pretty hard in hindsight even after I tweaked the response time and rudder response angle. After we rounded Nova Scotia, the steering failed. By disconnecting the steering cables and running with the primary autopilot at the rudder post, we were able to continue south to Charleston, SC. When I pulled apart the steering racks, two teeth fell out. Not a good sign. See the photo below. This looks like a stress fracture rather than simply wearing the rack down. All the teeth look good except the two in the center (One tooth is exactly in the center of the rack). All the other teeth look fine. I think that the hours of constant yawing and the fact that the Garmin autopilot was driving the boat through the steering cables caused the failure. Perhaps if I had used the Raymarine unit attached to the rudder nothing would have failed. Anyone else see anything like this? -- Dave Kurtz SM2 #380 S/V Celtic Cross
