Hydrovane wind vanes

[doris]

I would love to have a chat to someone out there who has real experience of a hydovane in action. I have inheritied one and although it would not have been the vane of choice, I am not about splash and get a servo pendulum. Please don't all say what load of rubbish they are, some people swear by them so they must have some value. Perhaps a pm from anyone who has actually been there and used one, please.

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[phein]

We have a hydrovane, and did over five hundred miles with it last year. Very reliable, and simple to operate. We inherited it from the previous owner of the boat, and it took him to Antarctica and back. It's good kit, and if your main rudder fails, it's there as a back up.

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[Tradewinds]

Sent you a PM

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[c_roff]

I bought a yacht (35ft long keel ketch) in 2001 that had a seized up old Hydrovane fitted to it. I persuaded Hydrovane to recondition it (however Hydrovane have since changed hands) for £300. It's a fairly early Hydrovane and I believe newer models have been improved. However I tried it out last year on a cruise from Newcastle to Orkney and back and it worked brilliantly. It even steered the boat downwind under twin headsails in a f4-5 with no problems. Close hauled in a f 6-7 it steered the boat as well as I could have done myself. I'm not sure how well it will perform in light airs. The auxiliary rudder can't be removed underway and this is sometimes a bit of a nuisance under power but on the plus side it could be used as an emergency rudder in the event of the main rudder failing. On balance I'd say it's an excellent system and if you've got one that works it's hard to justify replacing it with a new system for £2-3 k



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[vyv_cox]

Andrew Bray had a Hydrovane on Dash, his Sadler 34. Did at least two transatlantics and praised the Hydrovane highly.

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[johnq]

I bought a Hydrovane for an Atlantic circuit in 97/98 (12,000 miles) and the unit steered 90% of the time. Probably the single most expensive bit of kit we bought for the trip but worth it

I have a long keel steel boat so she tracks well anyway - very rarely during heavy squalls it needed a bit more of weather helm applied to the wheel to help it along.

It was able to sail me down wind without Gybing !!!

It appeared to work better that the servo pendulum units in lights air - it will work from 5 Knots of wind - the Monitor units appeared to need 10 Knots + (maybe because everyone insists on painting the vane with their national flag making it heavier!)

Only problems I had with mine were

- It broke the locking pin (£15) twice just below the tiller - probably caused by motoring with the rudder on. Derrick Daniels has suggested a solution to this
- Servo bolts came loose when heaved to and making stern way - user error!
- The fabric cover for the vane is now like tissue paper after 1 year due to the sun so don't leave it out if you are not using it. They cost above £50 from memory

As other peple have said putting the rudder on is a pain but it can be removed easily from on board. (Going astern in a marina with the rudder on is worth praticing before you need to do it in anger)

Good luck



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[minrags]

I did a single-handed transatlantic using one and it was exemplary. No bits of rope in the cockpit, aux' rudder for emergencies, simply superb performance.

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[cp99]

If you gave me ten thousand pounds and another windvane I wouldn't change my Hydrovane. It's steered my five ton cruiser-racer and 10 ton steel boat. It steers at half a knot of boatspeed, to 15 knots (max experienced so far). It has built-in capability for tillerpilot steering when motoring. Cover the wind vane itself with gaffer tape to stop it getting UV-ed. On a port-to-port passage of 6,000 miles I steered for exactly ten minutes, just to see if the rudder still worked.

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[kds]

Dear Doris,
I have just read the answers to your post.
If you decide you don't want it - do pass it on this way !



<hr width=100% size=1>Check out some pictures of my boat at;
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.canongrange.co.uk/boat>http://www.canongrange.co.uk/boat</A>

 

[Andrew_Bray]

Much depends on the size of the boat and how well balanced it is as the Hydrovane does not develop as much power as the servo pendulums. Having said that I had one on my Sadler 34 for around 16,000 miles and it probably steered for 14,000 of those - absolutely brilliant, no steering lines and a back up emergency rudder. The only condition it did not like was broad reaching in big seas when it would 'lose' the wind in the troughs. The solution was to run the Autohelm 2000 (tiller pilot) in tandem with it but on a very coarse setting. Normally the Autohelm did nothing but when the Hydrovane lost it, the pilot kicked in, brought the boat back on course and went back to stand-by.

I still have the Hydrovane on my new boat but don't use it as the auto pilot is brilliant and I have plenty of power, so once we get back to the UK in July it will probably be looking for a new owner.

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