Page 119 - Electronic Navigation Cyber Book

Manual operator controls

Permanent helm
This control is intended for use when the vessel is being driven
unilaterally off-course by a crosswind. Its function is to apply sufficient
permanent rudder angle to offset the drift caused by the wind, thus
holding the vessel on the required heading. Permanent helm is also
applied automatically when the steering system is in the automatic mode
of operation.
Automatic application of permanent helm makes no use of the permanent
helm control. The degree of rudder offset required for course holding is
now electronically computed and applied automatically.
Since the computing process involves the charging of a capacitor, the
required degree of permanent helm is built-up gradually over a period of

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