System information

Operation | 37
Tack and gybe prevent
When beating and running, using the autopilot is most
critical.
If the sails are unbalanced when beating, yaw forces from
the sails can drive the boat into the wind. If the boat is
driven beyond the set minimum wind angle (see page
84), the thrust from the sails will suddenly disappear and
reduces the
boat speed. Hence the boat will be more
difficult to steer because the rudder will become less
effective.
The tack prevent function in WIND mode has been
implemented to avoid such situations. It will react
immediately when the apparent wind angle becomes 5°
less than the set minimum wind angle, and more rudder
will be commanded.
When running, it is difficult to steer the boat with waves
coming sideways or from behind. The waves may yaw the
boat into an unwanted gybe; this can be hazardous for
both the crew and the mast.
The gybe prevent function will be activated when the
actual apparent wind angle becomes greater than 175° or
gets opposite to the set wind angle. More rudder will be
commanded to prevent an unwanted gybe.
The tack and gybe prevent functions are not a
guarantee against getting into a hazardous
situation. If the effect of the rudder and/or drive
unit is not adequate, it may happen. Pay particular
attention in such situations.
1.9 Wind steering and navigation
(sailboats)
The autopilot can also steer the boat given both wind
data and track data from a GPS/chart plotter. In this
mode called WIND
NAV
mode the automatic steering is
based on a set of criteria (see bullets next page). Wind
steering and navigation is activated by pressing the
MODE key when in Wind mode [1] followed by the
mode softkey. The initial course change (CHG) needed to
navigate towards the active waypoint, is calculated by the