Do I need a Windex?

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Fluter

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We are currently refitting our recently acquired 27' yacht which will be cruised and club-raced this season. I want to hoist my burgee to the masthead on its pigstick so want to de-clutter the masthead to make room for it. We have a new Raymarine wind instrument to fit and I'm wondering could I live without my Windex and get used to using the electronic wind instrument only (the burgee won't be used when racing).

Does anyone else think a Windex isn't needed anymore where an electronic wind instrument is fitted? Would be good to sound opinion before I chuck it. Thanks.
 
Fluter said:
Does anyone else think a Windex isn't needed anymore where an electronic wind instrument is fitted? Would be good to sound opinion before I chuck it. Thanks.
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An alternative would be to keep the windex and chuck the wind instruments. :)

The wind instruments will be damped anyway.
 
Perfectly fine to sail using the wind instrument, Windex is just a backup bonus that tells you exactly the same thing. How does anyone expect a helm to see a windex on a really tall mast?
 
Personally, I'd leave off the Raymarine one; mine tells me where/how strongly the wind was blowing three seconds ago and even that information's a bit approximate.

Whilst I liked the Windex on our last boat, I can't see it easily on this one if the bimini's up, so have added (my new favourite) a 2' length of bright pink ribbon to each mainstay and use those.

The odd thing about wind 'indicators', on our boat at least, is that when I'm connecting up the windvane steering, I will invariably consult the Ramarine's readout (always good for a laugh), the windex, the two bits of tape mentioned, the ensign and whatever courtesy ensign is at the starboard spreader too, invariably, every one of them will tell me something slightly different and once I've fot the windvane set and running, that'll not agree with any of them.
 
lpdsn said:
Depends what you mean by tall mast. My masthead is about 65' above the waterline and I have no difficulty at all seeing the windex.
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I think height above your helm position is more relevant, and particularly for example with a centre cockpit boat you'd end up with a crick in your neck constantly looking up.
 
Eyore said:
I think height above your helm position is more relevant, and particularly for example with a centre cockpit boat you'd end up with a crick in your neck constantly looking up.
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Never had a problem with centre cockpit boats, but I guess if yours is a problem then you may favour the instruments.

Anyway, I didn't get the impression the OP had that problem on his.
 
Chuck the instruments, fit the Windex + wool telltales on the shrouds; the latter give the direct in line of vision info required.

At night the reflective strips on a windex help, aided by the masthead light.

In locks preparing to go out into the wild blue yonder a Windex gives a clue what's happening.

All this could be said of electronic kit, except

A, How is it Calibrated

B, When, not if , will it fail...

C, In the unlikely event it doesn't, when will the power supply fail...

Better stick to Real Human Mk1 eyeballs and wind on cheeks, in any sense !
 
It has to be asked, did you take the arrow direction as ' direction coming from or to ' ?

Or was it pee'd up jobseekers after closing time reaching over from the lock wall and having a spin on the thingie ?!

Can it be a vortex...truly not experienced or heard of it myself but easy to imagine esp with lockside buildings ?
 
duncan99210 said:
Windex very time. Simple, easy to read and encourages you to look at the shape of the sail above your line of sight. The only time an electronic one comes into its own is round midday in the Med where the glare of the sun often obscures the Windex.
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Absolutely. Focusing on the electronic win instrument just detaches your awareness from what's happening to the sails.

(The other exception, I find, is at night when, without an illegal masthead anchor light, you can't see the windex.)
 
BobnLesley said:
...invariably, every one of them will tell me something slightly different and once I've fot the windvane set and running, that'll not agree with any of them.
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If course it won't agree. The wind speed at deck level will be different from at the top of the mast, so inevitably so will the apparent wind direction.

As to the OP's question: if he wants to avoid clutter but retain a simple mast-head tell-tale, surely a combined VHF aerial/wind indicator is the answer? Talk of 'Windex', incidentally, is not especially helpful in this regard as that's the brand name of a stand-alone indicator. Combined jobbies are made by several people, including Vtronix, Glomex, Banten. Glomex also do a wind indicator designed to be slipped on to an existing VHF aerial, which would probably be the cheapest option. See: http://www.force4.co.uk/department/electronics/antennas/vhf.html?p=2
 
macd said:
If course it won't agree. The wind speed at deck level will be different from at the top of the mast, so inevitably so will the apparent wind direction.

As to the OP's question: if he wants to avoid clutter but retain a simple mast-head tell-tale, surely a combined VHF aerial/wind indicator is the answer? Talk of 'Windex', incidentally, is not especially helpful in this regard as that's the brand name of a stand-alone indicator. Combined jobbies are made by several people, including Vtronix, Glomex, Banten. Glomex also do a wind indicator designed to be slipped on to an existing VHF aerial, which would probably be the cheapest option. See: http://www.force4.co.uk/department/electronics/antennas/vhf.html?p=2
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Indeed. Or go for our own Salty John's solution of fitting a Windex brand over a superior antenna:

http://www.saltyjohn.co.uk/metzmantaaccessories.htm
 
I have a windex on a Vhf aerial which is set aft of the masthead, also a masthead burgee. I do find that the burgee can get entangled unless I set it well above the windex pointer. This needs a long burgee stick, I adapted a stout garden bamboo cane.

But there's no similar problem with the masthead instruments. Apart from the fact they just don't work.

So I can understand the dilemma.
 
BelleSerene said:
Absolutely. Focusing on the electronic win instrument just detaches your awareness from what's happening to the sails.

(The other exception, I find, is at night when, without an illegal masthead anchor light, you can't see the windex.)
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Most windexes work very well with a tricolour.
 
duncan99210 said:
Windex very time. Simple, easy to read and encourages you to look at the shape of the sail above your line of sight. The only time an electronic one comes into its own is round midday in the Med where the glare of the sun often obscures the Windex.
Click to expand...

But a Windex is never going to calculate the true wind direction for you, if you think you need that. (To borrow a topic from another thread...)

Mike.
 
The combined windex/VHF aerial is too valuable a weapon to discard. In conjunction with an electronic wind indicator you then have options as to which you use in which circumstances. For example in really light airs I always watch the windex because it is fastest to react. And when hard on the wind it is easier to see than the ST60 six feet away.

As regards masthead clutter and burgees, it is amazing how high up you will need to get your burgee if it is to clear the VHF aerial. I solved this by bolting a short length of lightweight dinghy mast to the side of my boat mast, then running the signal halyard up to the top of the dinghy mast. The burgee is then fixed to a carbon fibre fishing rod (with home made swivels) and hoisted up to the top. Sounds complicated but was very cheap and is really effective.
Peter
 
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