Aries wind vane

Ariadne

Ariadne

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The Mrs kids and boat are in Grenada. Me? I'm in S
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I'm thinking of changing an Aries (which I inherited with the boat) for a Hydrovane. Mainly because it can be used as an emergency rudder and, on the face of it seems easier to set up and use. Another reason is not having the steering lines in the cockpit.

Anybody got any thoughts on this? Has used both systems and has some usefull comparisons.

If I do decide to do this what is a second hand Aries worth?
 
Am an Aries fan and wouldn't change mine for anything, but if you do sell yours, Peter Matthiesen from Aries does buy old ones. He then refurbishes it and sells it on. His contact details are:
aries@email.dk
+4574450760 Factory in Denmark
+4520730760 Mobile
 
I have had both and there is just no comparison... Down wind the Hydrovane will still be working with on 2 or 3 knots apparent. It is far more user friendly provided the boat is reasonably well trimmed. I loved my aeries - for its eara and for being one of the first it works but the Hydrovane is just a superb bit of modern engineering.

Michael
 
My experience is opposite to this. Except that we have a Monitor, which is still similar to the Aries.

We used a Hydrovane on an HR40 in the Caribbean last winter and although it worked well, it was far more critical to set the boat up correctly than is the case with our Monitor.

Conversely the Monitor isn't totally satisfactory down wind in very light conditions; for this we would use an Autohelm.

The Monitor does have lines across the centre cockpit, but we are now well used to them. It also has an emergency rudder, revelling in the name M-rud. Well there is no chance of muddling that up!
 
I've used 2 different pendulum servo gears on three different boats. Monitor and Pacific Plus.

The Monitor wins hands down. It is a better made product. 316 S/S throughout, except the bronze gears. All moving parts are suspended by delrin bearings, as a result it has a very light action and works down to 3kts of wind and about 1.5Kts of boat speed. Becuase the mounting frame is individualy made it is easy to transfer it from boat to boat. There is the option of fitting an emergency rudder.

By comparison, the Pacific is very poor. All aluminum and stainless steel, nicely corroding away. All moving parts are mere bushes, not bearings. Pulling up the cheap and nasty servo oar, whilst underway is very hard. You have to slow the boat down to almost a standstill. Not always very convenient or easy whilst sailing along. Only using it as it came with my boat. Not for nothing has it aquired the nickname "The Sulky Hun".
 
Oh, we all get attached to our own windvanes, bit like anchors, I guess, so FWIW, here's my thruppenceworth.

I'd agree with michael_w re the Monitor, well made and with the new light airs blade will keep the boat in a straight line downwind until the wind stops. Like all servo pendulum SS gear the more it blows the better it gets. And again like all SS gears can give excessive yawing with a heavy quartering sea. This can be overcome by throwing out a couple of fenders on a warp to give the bum some anchorage to stop the start of the yaw, if you see what I mean.

We've used ours for 5 years with no maintenance and nothing but straight courses.

Personally, I wouldn't touch an Aries, they are well built but older technology. The Monitor and other later designs use the same principle but with modern technologies that overcome some of the earlier probs due to use of aluminium parts.

I have no personal experience of the Hydrovane but have heard from those whose opinion I respect tell me needs the boat to be well set up and depending upon the hull type can very difficult to trim to keep the boat straight downhill.
 
This is better its getting more objective, and more informative.

But were digressing a bit from the original question. I have an Aries not yet tried by me but all aboard the boat, and SWMBO wants a Hydrovane as seem to be a better/more up to date option.

What I need to know is what is the main difference in performance between the 2 systems?
 
Well, as I understand it, the Hydrovane is NOT a servo system. The servo types work by the windvane twisting the 'oar', which makes it move in such a way as to realign with the flow of water. It does this by swinging off to one side, and in the course of that, the bevel gears make it align with the flow. This movement is resisted by the tiller or wheel, hence the rudder, to which the oar is attached. So, the deflection by the wind of the windvane, a relatively SLIGHT force, is amplified by the 'servo' effect, into a STRONG force by the sea and oar together. In the case of the Hydrovane, it acts as a trim-tab. The boat is set up nicely, and the Hydrovane useds the SLIGHT force of the windvane directly on the trimtab. Hence peeps suggesting that the HV needs the boat set up better.

I have the Monitor, and Michael_ above has said it all, except to identify that the M's weakness in light airs can be easily overcome by connecting a (low-powered) autopilot directly instead of the windvane, steering by the AP's calcs, rather than the angle of attack of the wind.

Shortly then, the main difference in performance is HV possy better in light airs downwind, both pretty special in mid-range, servo has the sheer brute force needed in heavy conditions.

PS friends' experience suggests not much performance diff between Aries, Monitor.
 
Sorry, had missed the fact that you have an Aries already. In which case, why not set it up and use it. If you need any spare parts there is a supplier (in Holland I believe) which comes highly recommended by those that have used them.

As denbigh says above Aries and Monitor work on the same principles the only difference being the materials that they are made of.

Your better half may have been influenced by the survey which says that the HV is the most used SS gear on the ARC. Some peeps prefer HV because of the lack of lines in the cockpit and is a favourite with centre cockpit boats because of the problems of running the control lines from the vane to the wheel. Again, personally, this wouldn't convince me to use one. The pendulum gear is inherently more powerful than the HV gear and the trouble with lines in cockpit is not, for me, sufficient reason to reject it.
 
[ QUOTE ]
But which would you recommend in heavy weather? Aries or hydrovane?

[/ QUOTE ]
Heavy weather is not a problem for either of them. The aries generates more power to push the helm over or turn the wheel. The Hydrovane generates more power on its rudder and works well.

Been out in reasonable blow with both and I cannot find any difference. The big advantage of the Hydrovane is that it works in really light airs - as I said before it will still be steering well in only 3knots apparent or less.

If you should break your rudder then you will be able to steer your boat with just the hydrovane - it works - people have done it. It is possible to fit the least expensive push pull type autopilot onto a hydrovane and it will become an autopilot using the hydrovane rudder to control the boat for very small bucks.

I sound like I am selling Hydrovane - not at all - the canadian people who purchased the right to sell it are not very friendly and have never replied to an email but it does not alter the fact it is a brilliant bit of kit. Mine took me round the world.

Michael
 
I also saw this unit at SIBS a few years ago. IIRC, it is made in South Africa, so by default I should recommend it, but IMHO it is a bit light in the construction.
 
Right then, How do I set the Aries up?

There is no one in Aber' with an Aries (if there is who are you and whats your boat called? PM me with info).

How do I get the rudder blade/pendulum to stay fixed in a downward position? On mine the sprung hinge thingy keeps springing it out to one side. Should it slide into something, or clip to something to keep it down.
I've never seen one working, so I'm a bit lost on setting the thing up. I've been told I need to use 'Spectra' rope for the stearing lines is this correct.
 
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