Raymarine Autopilot Drive Units
Raymarine Autopilot Drive Units
Raymarine builds award-winning marine electronics trusted by everyone from weekend cruisers to round-the-world racers. This is the Raymarine autopilot drive units range: the drives that turn the rudder under autopilot control.
Browse the full Raymarine range or Autopilot Drive Units from every brand.
Matching an Evolution drive to your gear
The drive is the part of an autopilot that actually turns the rudder, and the right type depends entirely on the steering system already fitted rather than personal preference. A linear drive suits hydraulic or mechanical steering with a tiller arm on the rudder stock, a rotary drive fits in-line with a wheel steering cable system, and a hydraulic pump feeds an existing hydraulic ram on larger boats where a mechanical drive cannot supply enough force.
Sizing is based on the boat's displacement and the load the rudder puts on the system at speed, not simply the boat's length, so an underrated drive on a heavy or fast boat will hunt or lag in a following sea. The drive also needs to be paired with a course computer rated for its current draw; fitting a drive without confirming this is a common cause of poor autopilot performance.
