The End of Hydraulic Steering for Boats??? A Review of Mercury Outboard Electric Steering 

If you go to MIBS this year, a follow-up video would be great. Also asked him when it is coming out for single engine. There has been a significant delay.

Can the steering be deactivated so the engine points straight and just throttle to get you home or are you screwed? Can't imagine how much an electronic helm station joy stick and the actuator cost to have as back up parts. Can't imaging that parts would be readily available, so unless you want to be out of action for weeks, you're going to purchase a spare activator and electronic joystick.

Freakin awesome…. Right up to the point it quits working and nothing works.

Any redundancy or backup to this electronic system in a salt water environment?

Just had a terrible experience with this system wile running a boat for a guy in Florida. Shit out 30miles out had to open the valves to put the system in limp mode. Had very limited input steering with the throttles at speed. The system wouldn’t let the rpm’s differ as much as needed on the two motors. Then when we got closer to shore would not let one motor into reverse wile the other was in forward making it impossible to deal with currents or tight maneuvering wile the system was malfunctioning. I will NEVER have this system on one of my boats. This was not like loosing steering in a traditional cable or hydraulic system and is not serviceable at sea what so ever. This is the kind of idea you get when your engineers have no experience on boats. Take sensitive electronic equipment and put it in a corrosive environment and vibrate the hell out of it then act surprised when it fails in 200 hours.

Mercury finally getting caught up with bigger boats. Only a matter of time. Most of all, my boats thru the years to get the wheels removed and joysticks installed. Joysticks are very common in larger craft. We use electric actuators. No hydraulics what so ever.

How the heck do you feel hydralic stearing is using more power? Sounds like a con, standard.

Electric steering is like electric cars a total cluster fuck on water