Furuno NAV pilot 700 Series

Intelligence, style and reliability in an autopilot

By Lawrence Husick

Piloting on long passages or when short-handed often goes from being enjoyable to a boring chore in very short order. In a seaway, it can take every bit of the helmsman’s attention and strength just to maintain course and speed. For these situations, and many more, an autopilot becomes a necessity and a safety improvement, rather than just a luxury. Furuno’s new 700 series NAVpilot system is proving to be among the best-of-class for both power and sail.

One of the first questions often asked about autopilot systems is whether they provide a comfortable voyage in challenging conditions. Early autopilots operated “behind the curve,” constantly overcorrecting for the effects of wind, wave, current and trim. The NAVpilot system, on the other hand, is programmed at installation with factors such as vessel speeds, trim, draught, dead band and others. With use, these parameters are refined by a self-learning adaptive software algorithm, and this ensures that the autopilot reacts to changing conditions, resulting in a safe and comfortable voyage. When connected to a compatible GPS system and wind system (the NAVpilot features both CAN bus and NMEA0183 ports), the system provides five guidance modes from which to select.

In AUTO mode, the system maintains heading only. In ADVANCED mode the system maintains heading but automatically compensates for the set of wind and current. In NAV mode the vessel is steered to a defined waypoint, compensating for wind and current, and even steers through a sequence of waypoints on a course. In WIND mode the system maintains a desired heading based on true or apparent wind direction, compensating for set from wind and current. Finally, in FISHHUNTER mode, patterns of square, zigzag, orbit, figure-eight and spiral are steered based on a target from either a sounder or radar.

The system also offers the helmsman a menu of pre-computed turn maneuvers and functions that are useful in man-overboard situations. An equally impressive variety of alarms and displays include alarms for course deviation, cross-track error, arrival, speed, depth, water temperature, trip distance and wind (speed, bearing, heading change). The display units offered for NAVpilot are clear LCD displays with several modes that are user-customizable.

The displays are part of the control units (the larger 700, the smaller 711, and the handheld 720.) In addition, four types of remote controller units are offered: lever, dial, button and dodge.

At a suggested retail price of around $4,000, the NAVpilot system is a good stand-alone value, and when integrated with Furuno’s NavNet3D and related systems, offers a seamless way to control a vessel with precision and safety, while allowing the helmsperson to focus on navigation, traffic, weather and the many other facets of modern vessel operation.