has any one had much experience with something like the Raymarine ST1000
just wondered how it would go in 15+ knots on a 27 foot yacht
I have a Simrad TP32 on a 6.5 tonne S&S34. It works very well in over 30kts and commensurate sea states.
Simple answer ..not for long...
My boat came with ST1000, boat is smaller but if I pushing hard
my tiller is exhausting exercise. Upgraded to ST 2000 no problem there.
Guess it comes down how the rudder is balanced.
I used to sail 32 footer and tiller was just perfect.
I can only recommend ST 2000, you need extra torque.
Hi I have the ST2000 and very happy with it, if you can afford to go for the ST2000 I would, it steers nearly twice as quick
Another vote for the st2000.
They are handy, but they aren't "set & forget", you have to treat them like the fragile piece of kit, that they are.
Don't let them work too hard (in strong winds & choppy sea state) for too long.
Having experienced the performance of the Simrad TP 32 on MorningBird, getting dropped and bumped around and still working well when needed, I don't think you could buy better.
The Raymarine has an LCD display but I do not think nearly as ruggedly built.
St1000 here, 26ft 2t. Fairly well balanced but not perfect due to the transom hung rudder. It has always performed well.
There are many in use on another website for similarly sized boats without problem.
THAT IS as long as you don't get either model 1000 or 2000 wet with spray or rain. In collects at the electrical compass and then zilcho. The other issue is they have no bump stop so if they are hard helming at full lock then they overheat frying the wiring.
I have a waterproof sock to keep mine dry and out of the sun. Grey isn't a friendly colour in the tropics... As for overheating. If you're steering at full lock then you need to balance your boat or put a reef in. Ideally the autopilot should have bump stops but more ideally you should be sailing not scrabbling along.
In my research the Simrad has scored more negative reviews, FWIW YMMV.
I have also got a wireless key fob so can activate and deactivate and change course from anywhere on the boat. Now that is a real autopilot. 
they are available from madmanmarine. V happy customer of both items.
I echo slammin's post
Great on well balanced boats , expensive on pigs
I have used mine 95 % of my sailing on this boat over past 9 years and logged many miles
Also have made many repairs , mainly due to water ingress and its effect on the electrical circuits
More recently replaced the 2 drive belts which were worn out so cheap i bought a spare set
I also recommend the madman remote for value
My recommendation is pay a little extra and get the ST2000
I have the Raymarine Evo 100 tiller on a 26'. Transom hung rudder also, it steers well but needs to be on high setting running in seas under kite.
I was surprised to find they use a ST4000 drive, as the 100 is the smallest autohelm in this range, I expected it to be a 1000. The 2k and 4k are the same worm drive and it sure steers and tacks responsively enough!
If you end up with a wind vane, you can use a tiller pilot to control it too , a ST1000 would work fine onto the vane but may struggle on the tiller especially down wind, following sea. The tiller pilot to the vane set up also has problems when motoring because of the prop wash on the servo oar. I have a ST4000 on a 5.5 ton 10m boat and sometimes I reckon its too light.
Thanks for the comments.
Our boat is a Northshore 27 with a transom hung rudder. You need to reef in anything over 18 knots otherwise it has a lot of weather helm. I still think it would work well as long as conditions are not too extreme.
Need to be conscious of power consumption with a 40W solar panel and a 105Ah AGM.
keensailor
Yes your power setup will limit your use i feel
also beware of voltage drop if wiring one in as they do draw some current when working hard
