Most useful old method of seeing wind direction without a windex or instruments?

[steve yates]

I never used to have one, then when i got one i found it really useful, especially for beating.
On my wee boat I have just noticed its gone! Vanished
Be a while till I get near the top of my mast for any work so back to traditional methods.
Rather than just guessing by the wind on your cheek, whats have folk found the best method, piece of wool tied to each shroud or some kind of burgeee hoisted up the mast? Or are there any other neat tricks I can play with?

 

[Black Sheep]

Yes, wool or other thread/ribbon from the shrouds, as you suggest.

The other useful thing is telltales on the sails - wool near the luff of the jib, and streamers from the leech of the main. Won't tell you the wind direction, but will help you to trim the sails (granny/egg possibility acknowledged, but I know the OP won't be the only person to read any advice in this thread).

 

[westhinder]

+1, a piece of ribbon from the shrouds

 

[Gwylan]

+2 for the ? ribbon from the shrouds.
Better than most alternatives.

Easy to replace, no batteries, no setting up, dodgy plastic cups falling on you.
Best of all you can see it easily. Most crew can understand the instruction.

Have NASA improved their whirly whirly thing yet?

 

[scottie]

If in Cumbria a crystal ball !

 

[johnalison]

None of the above. I use a combination of the feel of the wind on my neck, the direction of the wavelets, the shape of the sails, and the amount of forestay sag to guide my sailing, even with instruments.

 

[Concerto]

None of the above. I use a combination of the feel of the wind on my neck, the direction of the wavelets, the shape of the sails, and the amount of forestay sag to guide my sailing, even with instruments.

More aptly described as sailing by the seat of your pants.

Personally I use tell tails more than any instrument or Windex or burgee.

 

[LittleSister]

. . . piece of wool tied to each shroud . . .?

Wool?

What happened to the ancient maritime tradition of using a bit of cassette tape?

 

[AntarcticPilot]

None of the above. I use a combination of the feel of the wind on my neck, the direction of the wavelets, the shape of the sails, and the amount of forestay sag to guide my sailing, even with instruments.

+1. I only look at the wind instrument occasionally, mainly to get a number for the wind strength! But even that isn't really important; the experience of beating into 20 knots of wind is completely unlike the experience of a nice quartering reach.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Wool?

What happened to the ancient maritime tradition of using a bit of cassette tape?

I think the modern generation would ask "What's a cassette tape?"

 

[xyachtdave]

For wind direction, I usually just check IOSSC webcam.

Cam 1 - Web Cams and Weather Station, Sheerness | IOS Sailing Community

Much cheaper than instruments, windex's etc...

 

[LittleSister]

I think the modern generation would ask "What's a cassette tape?"

Apparently they're a hip niche thing, now. Like CDs!

 

[Concerto]

Apparently they're a hip niche thing, now. Like CDs!

So, tapes are nothing like LP's then? Sometimes I see CD's hanging on boats, but I never thought they were much good at checking the wind direction.

 

[steve yates]

Wool?

What happened to the ancient maritime tradition of using a bit of cassette tape?

Whats a cassette tape?

 

[slawosz]

Some people see wind after LSD . I prefer windex and shroud ribbons.

 

[The Q]

For those of us sailing on rivers, the feel of the wind on the face and the back of the neck doesn't work..
The winds at low level tend to follow the river, as you go up clearing the banks it changes, then changes again when influenced by houses or trees. So a series of wool / cassette tapes on the shrouds and a burgee are needed..

 

[ctva]

A combination of your senses, look at the sail, feel of the main sheet / jib sheet, balance of the helm, balance of the boat and the feel of your skin.

High tech instruments that give TWA, AWA, TWS, AWS, FFS etc. are good, low tech, windex, wool, cassette tape or VHS for big boats are just as good but I still use my senses and feel.

Best exercise is blindfolded sailing as we have an over reliance on visual indicators to the detriment of developing the whole range of options open to us. Fantastic to get a feel of the boat and wind, used it a lot in dinghy teaching.

 

[Dee Bee]

When I raced catamarans and apparent wind was critical, I used VHS tape tied to the shrouds. Much better than ribbon or wool as it still works when wet. and thicker and more durable than cassette tape. The problem now is finding anywhere that sells old vhs cassettes.

A question - why do yachts not use tell tails on the main? Lots have leech tell tails but not seen many with mainsail tell tails?

 

[westhinder]

When I raced catamarans and apparent wind was critical, I used VHS tape tied to the shrouds. Much better than ribbon or wool as it still works when wet. and thicker and more durable than cassette tape. The problem now is finding anywhere that sells old vhs cassettes.

A question - why do yachts not use tell tails on the main? Lots have leech tell tails but not seen many with mainsail tell tails?

Tell tales on the leech offer a wider range of info IMHO than elsewhere on the main.
We do have 2 conventional telltales in the main, but they nearly always stream horizontally. The leech ones can hide behind the sail, indicating you are oversheeting, or the top of the sail should be twisted off more.

Oh, and if you’re interested, I might be able to find you a length of VHS-tape for a good price ?

 

[johnalison]

It is not uncommon to see racing boats with quite a large area of the luff of the main slack or backed, so I'm assuming that it can't be that wrong. The leach tell-tales are useful to get the twist right and avoid over-sheeting.