Fr J Hackett
Well-Known Member
If you read the gear reports on ARCs usually found in Yachting World the most common failure is electronic and autohelms in particular. Even the big race yachts suffer problems. Most of the boats doing things like the ARC are now significantly bigger than they were 10 years ago typically 42' + and many carry a generator, if you don't and rely on an autopilot with all the rest of the electronic kit and fridge etc you will run the engine. In my estimation there have been some generous figures quoted for solar panel output (there are many threads on this) dont expect more than 2.5 to 3 Ahr out of a 50 watt panel well mounted and conservative for power draw for an autohelm.
I have and have used both my Hydrovane steering hundreds if not thousands of miles unfed and essentially unattended in all conditions and all wind speeds it is even set up to be managed by a small tiller pilot in very light winds and as, has been said can be used as a totally independant and seperate rudder from the ships own. I aslo have an underdeck Whitlock (Lewmar) motor and geerbox connected into the rod steering controlled by a Raymarine 7000 series unit which works faultlessly but is power hungary. Both will steer to wind angle both will steer a compass course the Hydrovane though will be subject to wind shifts but is only a moments work to reset it to the new wind direction it also keeps you more in tune with the boat as you pay more attention to the set up and therefore sail more efficiently. Cost if you are installing from scratch the windvane will be a little more expensive but not much certainly easier to install, if you are paying someone to install then the autopilot will be much more expensive.
I like to have both (or all three) forms of unattended helm control but if I were about to set off on a 20 to 30 day crossing and could only choose one it would be windpilot, my hydrovane by choice.
Just another view.
I have and have used both my Hydrovane steering hundreds if not thousands of miles unfed and essentially unattended in all conditions and all wind speeds it is even set up to be managed by a small tiller pilot in very light winds and as, has been said can be used as a totally independant and seperate rudder from the ships own. I aslo have an underdeck Whitlock (Lewmar) motor and geerbox connected into the rod steering controlled by a Raymarine 7000 series unit which works faultlessly but is power hungary. Both will steer to wind angle both will steer a compass course the Hydrovane though will be subject to wind shifts but is only a moments work to reset it to the new wind direction it also keeps you more in tune with the boat as you pay more attention to the set up and therefore sail more efficiently. Cost if you are installing from scratch the windvane will be a little more expensive but not much certainly easier to install, if you are paying someone to install then the autopilot will be much more expensive.
I like to have both (or all three) forms of unattended helm control but if I were about to set off on a 20 to 30 day crossing and could only choose one it would be windpilot, my hydrovane by choice.
Just another view.
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. Following seas aren't really a problem. plenty of southern ocean action has been seen using windvanes, broken vanes seem to be possible with knockdowns but that's just a piece of marine ply. As for the cost... well if you are going elec option then to do it properly you'll need a strong unit and have it linked up to a wind sensor. Much of an atlantic crossing will be dead downwind both ways , if you have an autopilot using compass for heading then there is a real risk of gybing during a wind shift. All that will add up to plus the power generation on top. Maybe looking at it that way a windvane isn't so expensive. 
