www.iFourWinns.com

I'm purchasing a 2010 Vista 335 this weekend and want to begin ordering the parts from Raymarine to have an autopilot installed. The first question that Raymarine asked me when I called them was "what type of steering do you have"? I asked what types there were and he said cable or hydraulic are the most common.

Since I didn't know I called the local Four Winns dealer who told me it was cable steering with power assist on the stern drives. When I called Raymarine back to tell them that he said "there's no way to install our systems without using a third party part called an Octopuss drive". He also mentioned that that would be a very outdated way to steer a boat, which didn't make sense since Four Winns is obviously a quality boat. Since that made no sense I called Four Winns technical service. He told me that it's cable steering but "kid of like a car - it could be considered hydraulic". Now I'm completely confused. Four Winns can't even answer the question!

I suspect it's either considered cable steering or hydraulic steering from the perspective of installing an autopilot, however I can't seem to get a straight answer. All I need to know if which parts to order!

Any assistance would be appreciated. I've been readint some posts on this forum over the past few days and it's been very helpful.

If yer boat has no joystick = cable steering.
If it has a joystick = hydraulic steering.

The non "IPS" stern drive engine package with hydraulic steering and joystick control uses the IPS brains. According to Raymarine their IPS autopilot system works with it.

Nothing wrong with the octopus, it just replaces the steering box and adds in some sensors and a servo motor. That's the most common form of autopilot control in the world.

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1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

Ok since I have the 5.7 Volvos but I don't have the IPS option, the answer is "cable" and I don't need the Octopus parts?

Thanks for much for your help!

Well does the twin 5.7's on your boat have a joystick control for docking? It wasn't sold as IPS but it uses the IPS steering setup (hydraulic)

_________________
1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

Maybe this may help.

You would need a control head (this is the display/control box that you would mount at the helm).. http://www.raymarine.com/raymarine/D...e=160&Parent=5 You would also need a course computer, fluxgate compass, and a rudder reference tiller arm... The most basic "corepack" Raymarine has would likely be sufficient for your needs.. http://www.raymarine.com/raymarine/D...e=161&Parent=5 Finally, you would need an actuator for the system to steer the boat.. http://www.raymarine.com/raymarine/D...e=222&Parent=5

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

No joystick. Just the engines to dock. This is my first powerboat (last boat was a Beneteau 473) so this should be fun.

Yes - they told me the X10 Corepack would be the one.