Wil Hamm’s outfit lets boaters take their hand off the tiller.

The engineers of Bainbridge-based W-H Autopilots have moved to higher ground but remain immersed in the production of some of the world’s most highly-rated maritime navigational tools.

“We’re pleased to be here for so many reasons,” said W-H Autopilots founder and owner Wil Hamm at his company’s new headquarters on Day Road. “This place is bigger, there’s more parking, the building’s more shipshape, it’s closer for most of my employees and it’s only two minutes away from my house.”

The company moved to the Day Road light manufacturing district in February after more than 10 years on Madrone Lane in downtown Winslow. The move was amicable, with the downtown landlord wanting to find a more retail-oriented tenant and Hamm desiring a more spacious and convenient location.

A French-themed furniture store now occupies W-H Autopilots’ former home.

With design, shipping, sales and manufacturing happening in one spot, the 500 square feet of additional space at the Day Road location allows the company with a global reach to spread out a bit more.

W-H Autopilots, which was born out of Hamm’s former career in medical equipment engineering and a passion for boating, produces automatic steering and navigation aids for yachts, long-range speed boats and sailboats. Most models sell for $4,000 or for as much as $10,000 with annual revenue at under $1 million.

Many of the company’s autopilots use global-positioning systems to keep vessels on course so captains can take breaks from the wheel.

“Nobody wants to hand-steer 15, 20 or 24 hours a day,” he said of his company’s autopilots, which are generally purchased by recent retirees embarking on long sail trips across oceans, or sometimes batches of them. “You still have to have a man on deck looking out for logs and other boats, or so you don’t run aground – which happens sometimes.”

But not often, according to a January article in Cruising World magazine, which gave the Bainbridge company the highest satisfaction rating of all available consumer autopilots.

The magazine also commended W-H for producing navigation tools that suffer only a third of the breakdowns of its competitors.

That’s quite a claim to fame for a company dwarfed by the larger British and Norwegian autopilot manufacturers.

“People imagine we have 100 people working here,” he said. “They’re shocked when they learn we have so few.”

The company has only six employees, with Hamm still serving as one of three engineers.

The fact that three of the company’s workers commute from the Kitsap Peninsula highlights the growing challenge of finding good or willing help on the island.

“There’s no kids here between 20 and 30 who want to learn to do this,” he said. “There’s a lack of young people to hire, and a lot of the older people here don’t have to work.”

Hamm occasionally hires high school or college students on summer break with an aptitude for mechanics.

“They can do a lot around here,” he said. “There’s a lot of soldering, screwing and tightening to do.”

Hamm, who studied physics and electronics at the University of Washington, started his business in the mid-1970s in the Seattle area, where science students and college faculty were in ready supply to help him build autopilots.

Despite the slim island workforce, Hamm said his anchor is set firm on Bainbridge.

“I’ll never move back to Seattle,” he said. “There’s the lack of crime here and a good Chamber of Commerce that’s not overrun with big corporations. It’s a nice, peaceful place and it’s my home.”

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Autopilot’s license

W-H Autopilots, Inc., is located at 7995 NE Day Road, Suite B. Call 780-2175 or see www.whautopilots.com