Mister vee self steering

[pugwash60]

Has anybody any experience of these things, (www.mistervee.com/) they are a lot cheaper than other brands on the market, in fact have people experience of different self steering gears and which would they recommend, I have only had experience of the Hasler one which was fine except downwind.

 

[MoodySabre]

CPD of this forum (who is currently away sailing) fitted one to his Centaur for the Jester Challenge. He never did get it to work properly and used a tillerpilot instead. This is not to say that they don't work but just that it was his experience. PM him - should be back next week if the weather improves.

 

[30boat]

It appears to be a normal servo pendulum steering gear.I think the gears are on the small side and made of plastic.The stresses are usually not very high on these gears but they're crucial.On my Monitor they're massive and made of bronze.I understand they're in stainless on recent models.
He makes claims that are not very ambitious.A windvane must be fit for a lot more than allowing you to cook a meal or change your sails.It should be able to be left on for days or weeks and hundreds or thousands of miles.That's why they should have a safety margin built in.

 

[webcraft]

.
We have a Navik on our 27ft Albin Vega, and it has steerd us for days at a time in all sorts of sea conditions. It is lightweight and maybe comparable to MrVee compared to heavyweights like the Monitor or Hydrovane.

The main hassles with the Navik involve dropping and raising the paddle and adjusting course from the cockpit, but you get used to this.

Loads of windvane links

- W

 

[capnsensible]

Done two transatlantics with hydrovane on my Moody 33. Great bit of kit, all points of sail. Easy to use and not much to go wrong.

Recommended!

 

[webcraft]

Done two transatlantics with hydrovane on my Moody 33. Great bit of kit, all points of sail. Easy to use and not much to go wrong.

Recommended!

And the Hydrovane also gives you a spare rudder if yours falls off . . . they are the RR of windvanes, but I wouldn't fit one to a much smaller boat than yours, they are heavy bits of kit - not to mention expensive.

- W

 

[capnsensible]

Expensive, yes.

Weight average (depending on brackets needed) 83lbs, 37 kgs.Probably bit heavy for a boat less than 30 ft.

Dogs doodahs though!!!

Also done 2 transats with 2 of us and broken wheel pilot. After a week or two, hand steering tends to loose its charm.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

I've got the trim-tab version of autosteer on my Nic 26. Obviously it's nowhere near as powerfull as a pendulum-servo system, but it performs very well on my long-keeler with its transom hung rudder.

http://www.hydragroup.co.uk/html/autosteer_frameset.htm

 

[doug748]

These start at £1400:
http://www.windvane.co.uk/Prices/
Difficult to beat the price for a made up unit, I would guess.

 

[convey]

Anyone with an update on these Mr Vee, Mr Vane, Y&B things?

I heard that an early batch had problems with a component not having sufficient clearance or something and that it was fixed, but have never spoken to anyone using one. The original R&D model does appear to have done a lot of miles, so it can be all bad.

What's the idea with them, that they are easy to strip down in case of a storm? The skinny pole does look a little vulnerable. A friend had one but sold it on before using it because the size of the wind vane was too big for him to easily store it in his cable. He had a small boat so he thought it would suit him.

No need to mention alternatives.

Thanks

 

[Tiagoclash]

I got one about 4 years ago and am just in the process of fitting it - so will be able to post an update soon.
Although the system seems quite straightforward to operate, I had a few questions after taking the rig out of the box and Sven, from Mr Vee, has been very helpful and patient in addressing my questions, so it's a big plus already!

Cheers,
T

 

[Wfbal]

Hello Tiagoclash,

I know it's an older post but did you manage to get your Mr Vee Self Steering to work?

I'm also interested by the Y&B as a backup system for my boat and I'm looking for some feedback.

Thanks,

Walter