Poll - Best Windvane Self-steering system ?

[Boo2]

Hi,

Question as title - which is the best of the big name self-steering windvanes out there ? Personal experience preferred.

The ones on the list are the just the top 10 that seem to get talked about the most, they are as follows :

1. Aries
2. Capehorn
3. Fleming
4. Hydrovane
5. Monitor
6. Neptune
7. Sailomat
8. Sea Feather
9. Voyager
10. Windpilot

but I also came across the following "B" list, does anyone think I'm missing a trick in leaving any of these out of the running ?

• Holland
• Mister Vee
• Norvane
• South Atlantic
• Vectavane
• Windgear

I know this question appears a lot but I couldn't find a comprehensive poll so that's my excuse for posting it again...

Boo2

 

[uxb]

I had a Hydrovane on my last boat. Excellent support when selecting, buying and fitting- fitting was easy singlehanded while afloat.

15 years of faultless service from it.

Would not hesitate to buy another Hydrovane.

 

[jim99]

Didn't feel right voting. I imagine most of us have only used one or two vanes, and will vote for the one we know.
I have a Monitor, the only vane I have experience with. It served me well crossing from Japan last year, but have nothing to compare it to.

 

[Kelpie]

Didn't feel right voting. I imagine most of us have only used one or two vanes, and will vote for the one we know.
I have a Monitor, the only vane I have experience with. It served me well crossing from Japan last year, but have nothing to compare it to.

+1
FWIW, I have a Navik, which is a good match for my boat, being very lightweight and with, IMHO, very good performance. However I have nothing to compare it to, except that I have glanced at other brands as I walked down the pontoons.
I would say that the Navik does have some limitations: you have to hang of the back-stay to adjust course, dropping the water paddle can only be done whilst dead in the water, and a lot of the mechanism looks very fragile to me. Other brands looks more substantial, but then perhaps that would make them too heavy for my boat.

 

[TimBennet]

+1
FWIW, I have a Navik, which is a good match for my boat . . . .I would say that the Navik does have some limitations:

I've used the Navik a lot and it's by far the most sophisticated set up ever made. I'm stunned that it has gone out of production and that no one tried (to my knowledge) a Mk 2 version or even a version for bigger boats. I know they did make an electric remote control unit on the turret at one stage, but was 'no longer available' even by the late 1980's.

Many. many miles with a Navik proved itself to be certainly robust enough on boats up to Contessa 32 size as proved by GiGi using one to sail upwind round Cape Horn.

The other type I've used a lot on bigger boats is the Monitor. Again a stunning bit of kit and I would see no reason to consider anything else if I had to replace it.

But I'm not going to answer the survey as you have to use self steering gears a lot to really get the best from them. So my opinions of the Aries are formed after far fewer miles and therefore are not valid. But the control mechanism on the turret is brilliant!

The Hydrovane has always enjoyed a 'home advantage' on UK boats. A consistent boatshow presence by the various manufacturers over the years, the ability to mount them off centre on swim platformed transoms and their conversion into a form of emergency rudder, has meant they have lots of advocates over here. They therefore do well in the 'objective magasine surveys'.

But I am a huge admirer of the servo pendulum gears; I love the yaw damping in quartering seas and in my dreams I'd have a Navik system built like a Monitor! That would seem to be the best of both worlds.

 

[Poignard]

I don't suppose many people have had experience of the full range of windvane steering systems so your poll won't be much help.

I have only owned one, a Monitor. It is easy to use and incredibly sensitive. The absence of any alloy parts means there is nothing to corrode so you can always get it to peices easily.

Things I don't like are its weight, appearance and the fact that when the paddle is out of the water it is vulnerable to being bashed by passing boats. It also adds to the boat's length so you could be charged more in a marina. It wasn't that easy to install. The makers recommend fitting it when afloat but I would have found it easier to do it ashore.

Some people think that windvanes are only for ocean voyagers but the Monitor is so easy to deploy and control that I use mine on short trips.

 

[30boat]

I have Monitor that is simple and very rugged,It's all stainless not alloy so corrosion is not a problem.It doesn't look as smart as other makes(it's downright ugly) but it can be repaired very easily ant it's a doddle to take apart and put back together again.Mine was hit by another boat and one of the teeth on the gear broke off.The clamp for the vane was also dammaged .I had a new tooth welded on (it's bronze) for 5€ and I fixed the rest myself which involved welding new nuts for the airvane clamps .It also works brilliantly and is very easy to set up.

 

[rob2]

Just from interest in the design concepts I have looked at most of these and often the choice is thinned out by which are suited to the boat in question. Weight is a major consideration on smaller boats, particularly if they have little reserve buoyancy in the stern. In general, I thought those built from stainless and bronze would outlast the others, just as the older designs using massive bevel gears will probably outlast those with small plastic gears.

The one in your list which is really different is the Hydrovane as it is not a servo-pendulum it is not as mechanically powerful, but has the advantage of not being linked to the tiller/wheel which is lashed.

Incidentally, a Super Navik was produced to cater for larger boats, but it didn't seem to be popular in the same way the Navik still is.

I don't believe you will learn anything from the poll, as others have said most people have experience of only one design.

Rob.

 

[KellysEye]

>I had a Hydrovane on my last boat. Excellent support when selecting, buying and fitting- fitting was easy

I agree. Ours had done over 25,000 miles when I sold the boat. On the maintenance front I only did two things to it, very occasionally change the pin holding the rudder because of corrosion and grease the big cog.

 

[vyv_cox]

I have not voted as I have only ever owned a Windpilot. It was excellent, used many times to cross the North Sea. In the Med I found it did not entirely resist being whacked by the anchor of a lunatic mobo driver but fortunately was not too difficult to repair.

 

[macd]

The one in your list which is really different is the Hydrovane as it is not a servo-pendulum it is not as mechanically powerful, but has the advantage of not being linked to the tiller/wheel which is lashed.

At least one servo-pendulum design, the Windpilot Pacific Plus, has no such linkages but drives it's own rudder.

 

[oldbilbo]

So I have a conundrum. Perhaps peeps here will help solve it.....

I have managed to acquire both a Navik and a Sea Feather, both used, and neither yet fitted to my 27' long-keeler with reverse counter.

Which one should I sell?

 

[Leif-J]

My only experience is with Aries, which was purchased from new and fitted one year ago.
So far the function has been excellent, it is a very competent piece of equipment that I would not hesitate to recommend.
As to the long term reliability I can only give second hand information, but I decided for Aries based on a friend's recommendation.
Lets talk again in 5 years time!

 

[dgadee]

So I have a conundrum. Perhaps peeps here will help solve it.....

I have managed to acquire both a Navik and a Sea Feather, both used, and neither yet fitted to my 27' long-keeler with reverse counter.

Which one should I sell?

Very happy with my sea feather - especially after adding the upgrade which lets you easily remove/attach servo blade. No idea about Navik or anything else. They all seem to work but I chose the sea feather because it suited the size of my boat (30 foot) - the smaller wind pilot was too small and the larger wind pilot too expensive. I presume most people factor in those kinds of issues unless they are loaded and buy a Hydrovane.

 

[TimBennet]

So I have a conundrum. Perhaps peeps here will help solve it.....

I have managed to acquire both a Navik and a Sea Feather, both used, and neither yet fitted to my 27' long-keeler with reverse counter.

Which one should I sell?

Navik: More sophisticated mechanism, proven strength and durability, but out of production so check availability of flexible connectors and nylon bushings as spares.

Sea Feather: In production (which is always a tenuous condition with small self steering manufacturers), remote course control, simpler lifting of servo paddle, but my concern would be the amount of mixed metals and fasteners in the construction. How are they going to hold up in the longterm, or will the structure just happily fuse together as with the Aries?

 

[TimBennet]

. . . .unless they are loaded and buy a Hydrovane.

Don't assume the Hydrovane is the pinnacle just because it's expensive!

The Hydrovane is unique in the way it works which gives it both disadvantages and in some circumstances, some advantages over other types. Even with all the money in the world, you would only choose one if the unique properties it offers are the one's you consider to be the most important for your use.

 

[rob2]

I have managed to acquire both a Navik and a Sea Feather, both used, and neither yet fitted to my 27' long-keeler with reverse counter.

Which one should I sell?

Not personal experience, but two sister ships in our owners' association use the Navik and they are very happy with them in operation (27ft fin & skeg). However, they are reaching an age where the plastics are failing and there is a constant look out for spares. The design is unusual in that the vane operates a trim tab to turn the pendulum rudder which multiplies the sensitivity.

Another member had a folkboat and after self steering problems on the Jester, fitted a Sea feather and was delighted with it. I had intended to get one myself before I was made redundant and spoke to Paul a few times about selecting the most suitable one. Although they would all fit and work successfully, I was looking for a quickly detachable mounting and top lever design so the steering lines would more easily clear the cockpit coamings.

On the basis of the method of construction, I would favour the Sea Feather. I believe that even if Paul were to stop production, replacement parts can be machined from solid whereas so many parts of the Navik are injection moulded polycarbonate.

Rob.

P.S. What price for the Navik, then?

 

[SvenH]

Navik spares:
http://windvaneselfsteering.com/?q=catalog/navik-replacement-parts

These are mostly machined from solid POM.

And I have a lOOOng way to go to retirement.

 

[TimBennet]

Navik spares:
http://windvaneselfsteering.com/?q=catalog/navik-replacement-parts

If they are quality parts, then it would appear the Navik is a very viable choice for boats up to 6 tons and about 32 feet (in my experience -but may be more).

 

[rob2]

Sorry, Sven.

I should have been more specific, my colleagues are suffering from such things as the pendulum blade starting to crack up - not helped by one of them being struck on the moorings and bending the mounting gear!

Rob.