Switch from cable to hydraulic steering

[BigLew]

I never liked the feel of cable steering on any of the boats I have owned with cable.

I couldn't agree more, even the 'mechanical cable' a lot of manufactures are using. Probably one of the best examples of these problems are the larger sailboats I get to crew on with some regularity. One has a higher end cabling system on it with springs and such to 'take up' any slack and the other has hydraulic. On the cable set up we are CONSTANTLY fine tuning the helm setting or diddling with the autopilot. We can't seem to get better than 2-3 degree consistent holds on course; the hydraulic- set it and forget it, it holds (+/- 1 degree) bearing without running the batteries down. The only time the autopilot seems to kick in is when there is a change in the current flow or wind conditions conditions.