Navik on a Sadler34?

KevO

KevO

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I’ve been musing about fitting a wind vane on my S34. My Hustler 30 came with a Navik and before I sell her on in the new year I have been pondering whether to include the Navik in the sale or transfer it to the new boat. I just assumed it would be too small but is that actually true? It has finally dawned on me, why buy another for mucho dinero if I already have one that will work? So before we deviate off into a thread all about the virtues of X vs Y wind vane/s the question is... would a Navik be up to the job on a Sadler 34?
 
I always felt the Navik ws at he upper end of it's limits in my 30ft Ballad but that may be down to an IOR rig and getting things ballanced when coming off the wind.

I imagine it'll work but how well? All I can say is give it a go, if you have it all ready try it, if it doesn't you've just got to do is plug a couple of holes and sell it on, someone will always buy it!
 
I have seen Naviks on similar sized boats around here, must depend on the balance.

(Drift) What surprises me is that nobody has picked up the design after Plastimo got into trouble. Mr V says it has too many little holes that are tricky to do.??? But he markets a few spares.
 
The NAVIK is a great piece of kit, I really regret letting mine go when I sold it with my previous boat, the specs suggest that it is fine for boats up to 30' but as Down West has said, it may be dependant upon balance, Guy Bernardin chose to use a Navik on his 38' entry for the 1982 BOC round the world race, so it may be fine on a Sadler 34.
 
If you know or have felt the leverage that the Navik can generate on the ?tiller? of the Hustler, and you have sailed the S34 enough ( skeg, semi balanced rudder??) to get a feel for just how much leverage the tiller can wrestle or generate when the boat slews off a bad wave , at speed.. and if you think the former is enough to cope with the latter, then why not give it a go ?

Basically the size of the Navik blade is what limits the ultimate steering force it can generate.. and you can’t add to that area without compromising the proven strength of the existing components and frame.

If it doesn’t prove successful I am sure it would sell well by itself.
 
Only fitted it once on the Hustler... had a TP22 and a helm mad brother who would never let the thing go! He passed over the bar last Feb so is helming for St. Peter now. With COVID and double storms in August I’ve had less than 2 weeks sailing on the new Sadler this year. ?
 
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I'd be inclined to say give it a go and report back*


For full disclosure, I had a navik on the back of my folkboat for years and the unit is now tucked up in the loft, Folkboat sold. Now sailing Moody 34. Looked into putting a hydrovane on the back but HOW MUCH!? Wowzers!

Now considering putting the navik on the Moody so have definite interest in how yours performs. I strongly suspect it'll be fine though.
 
I had a Navik on an Albin Vega and have a Hasler SP3 on my Bowman 26 and it strikes me that these older, small and light windvane steering units seem to do fine on older, small boats that are not light on the tiller even when well balanced. So I would have thought at least worth a try on a Sadler 34, it'll likely be ok...
 
V1701 said:
I had a Navik on an Albin Vega and have a Hasler SP3 on my Bowman 26 and it strikes me that these older, small and light windvane steering units seem to do fine on older, small boats that are not light on the tiller even when well balanced. So I would have thought at least worth a try on a Sadler 34, it'll likely be ok...
Click to expand...
. The Hustler is beautifully light on the tiller when set up correctly... a genuine delight that still has ‘feel’.
 
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