Best (affordable) wind indicator

[Boo2]

Hi,

I may need to buy a wind indicator for a boat which currently has a heterogeneous instrument setup. So which is the best (I mean, not really the best but good and affordable) ?

Thanks,

Boo2

 

[lenseman]

When I put to sea many years ago, all we had was a 6" long piece of wool tied to each of the port and starboard stays.

Nothing even comes close to telling you about the wind strength and direction than that and nothing is cheaper.

Other devices can and certainly do go wrong and break!

 

[Searush]

I too have wool tell-tales on the shrouds (red to port & green to stbd) and they are excellent, but I do sometimes need to augment the decision making process with a wet finger, or my cheek.

 

[Ubergeekian]

I too have wool tell-tales on the shrouds (red to port & green to stbd) and they are excellent, but I do sometimes need to augment the decision making process with a wet finger, or my cheek.

Multi-coloured? There's posh! I stuck with them for years, then yielded to temptation and added a Hawk, which I find excellent. If I had to choose only one, though, it would be the wool.

 

[Blueboatman]

I have a couple of handheld devices, one a disc in a tube, t'other a pea in a tube. Nice 'cos one always finds a kinder, lower windforce at deck level.

Last couple of times out I didn't take the covers off the wind or the log electronic thingies, reckon I am knowing the boat well enough now and slightly begrudge driving like a car staring at the instruments all the time..( probably just getting curmudgeonly and old!).

To the op, Tactic seem quite clever, less wires!

 

[lenseman]

. . . If I had to choose only one, though, it would be the wool.

YES!! 'Dyed in the wool' proper sailors.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I have been told that ribbon from a haberdashers is better than wool as it doesn't hold water so much and get 'stuck'.

 

[Searush]

I have been told that ribbon from a haberdashers is better than wool as it doesn't hold water so much and get 'stuck'.

I guess you haven't tested your information tho' have you?

My experience is that the greater surface area of the ribbon causes it to wrap round the shrouds when damp. The wool absorbs less water (real wool with lanolin, not plastic wool!) and therefore tangles less.

I also use wool telltales on the sails with great effect. So easy to sew in or replace.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I guess you haven't tested your information tho' have you?

My experience is that the greater surface area of the ribbon causes it to wrap round the shrouds when damp. The wool absorbs less water (real wool with lanolin, not plastic wool!) and therefore tangles less.

I also use wool telltales on the sails with great effect. So easy to sew in or replace.

I have not tested ribbons and in fact use 'woolies'. The info was from a much more experienced sailor the I and I believed him. But I will bow to your superior knowledge!

 

[dmmbruce]

Wool, as described.

A Hawk at the masthead, there is a cheaper and better make, forgotten name.

NASA anemometer/wind instrument, but expect problems with it.

TacTick, very expensive and said to be problematic to set-up.

 

[Billjratt]

If you're about to acquire an electronic fright-meter, take a walk round the marina and check which ones have shed bits of the masthead unit. STs seem to last longer than most of the competition.

 

[Woodlouse]

I too have wool tell-tales on the shrouds (red to port & green to stbd) and they are excellent, but I do sometimes need to augment the decision making process with a wet finger, or my cheek.

That seems a bit excessive on the cost front IMHO. You'd buy two balls of wool when one would suffice? You must be one of them superyachts with unlimited budgets.


We tend to use strips of Jay Cloth tied to the backstays. But only really when racing. The Burgee does most of the indicating to be honest.

 

[oldsaltoz]

Try a bit of old VCR or better cassette tape on the shrouds, it needs to be at least a foot long.

 

[colvic987]

Even cheaper telltales

That seems a bit excessive on the cost front IMHO. You'd buy two balls of wool when one would suffice? You must be one of them superyachts with unlimited budgets.


We tend to use strips of Jay Cloth tied to the backstays. But only really when racing. The Burgee does most of the indicating to be honest.

I've heard 'thro the grapevine' that SR visits the local wool shop periodically, armed with only with a pair of scissors.!!!(tongue in cheek),

 

[Searush]

I've heard 'thro the grapevine' that SR visits the local wool shop periodically, armed with only with a pair of scissors.!!!(tongue in cheek),

I think SWMBO may actually have her own secret wool shop judging by the stockpiles in her "craft room". Yet it is some years since she last knitted anything - and that was all in pink or light blue when G-kids turned up.

However, I am having trouble locating the correct shade of green, so I may need to got to the knitting stall at the market & request a couple of "colour samples".

Incidentally, for the techy types who also want to know the wind strength, can I recommend a copy of Admiral Beafort's excellent wind scale charts?

 

[biscuit]

I guess you mean an electronic instrument, and have recieved lots of "amusing" responses. My advice, based on experience: Northstar work well for a couple of weeks, if you are lucky. Dont buy one of theirs.

 

[doug748]

I fitted one of these years ago:

http://www.mesltd.co.uk/raymarine-st40-wind-system-p-128.html

The masthead spinner is a marvel of design and has just the one moving part - excellent. Not as cheap as wool but not bad.
The display is rather vague and I have never met anyone who can understand the calibration instructions. As I have no idea what the thing is for, it is all academic, but it is reliable and that is the main thing; with some systems people spend a lot of time shinning up and down the mast.
PS
The masthead unit is fixed to the cable (no plug) so it has to be fitted in one shot. It is more compact than others so is not damaged by crane hoists.
The display is fine - when I say vague I mean that the rose is not as telling as a close hauled meter, which is a useful bit of kit.

 

[crossbones]

wind meter

doug748,
Is that the rotavecta unit? Is it accurate?
Regards.

 

[lenseman]

I guess you haven't tested your information tho' have you? . . . . I also use wool telltales on the sails with great effect. So easy to sew in or replace.

Here Steve!!

Don't give away all our little secrets. Let these youngsters spend all their hard-earned cash/money on bits and pieces which will eventually break leaving them crying.

 

[Boo2]

The display is fine - when I say vague I mean that the rose is not as telling as a close hauled meter, which is a useful bit of kit.

I know NASA make a closed haul indicator but cannot find one in anyone else's lineup. Do they have another name or is NASA the only firm to make one ?

Thanks,

Boo2