Self Steering Wind Vane

T

TonyTitch

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I wish to fit a self steering wind vane to my rudder's trim tab, of the type shown on page 387 of the Macmillam Reed's Yachtsman's Handbook 1984 Edition. Are there any books or other sources of advice about these?
TonyTitchener

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There are two books for sale in the Shopping/ books section of this site. I have found Bill Belchers to be clear and understandable. I have an Autosteer Trim tab from Hydra [South west] Ltd, at Indian Queens, [01726 862000]. It is sensitive and well made, and hard to damage in harbour, but not as powerful as a pendulum gear.
I think wind vane self-steerers are a great asset, even if you aren't crossing oceans all the time. Even if your battery and charging systems are up to running an electric autohelm system [for weeks at a time?] they are one of the less reliable bits of kit on a boat. I am on my third.

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Absolutely correct. Reliable electronic autopilots may be used by Vendee Globe and similar competitors but these systems bear little relationship to the products sold to ordinary sailors, especially on cost. Even so, there are plenty of stories of failure of both the main and back-up systems. Other than the reliability, electricity consumption is significant, especially in the rolling conditions of trade wind routes. The noise drives me mad, too.

A mechanical system is vastly preferable in terms of reliability, silence, zero battery consumption and pleasure, in seeing something that works so well for no apparent reason. I would suggest that they are cheaper too, if comparing like with like. I wouldn't dream of doing a big crossing on a Tillerpilot or Autohelm without at least two back-ups. Also, if something went wrong I could fix the Windpilot but wouldn't get far with the electronic one.

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Self Steering Wind Vane Drawings

Drawings for home construction of a pendulum type are available through a link on Gavin Atkin's Free Boat Design Resources site see "http://home.clara.net/gmatkin/design.htm". You'll need a CAD package like AutoCAD or IntelliCAD to view the drawings I'm thinking of (the latter is available as a free download or on some PC magazine covers).

If the drawing doesn't suit, you should be able to adapt it.

Regards

Richard


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Not yet. I've had 2 autohelms give up the ghost on me in the last 5 years, and have had to repair my 3rd one. My wind vane on the other hand has steered for more miles than the electronic gizmos and has never broken down. I use the autohelm for motoring or short sails of an hour or so, any longer and I use the wind vane.

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Thanks for all the sophisticated advice about ocean crossings, etc., but I was actually looking to fit something more basic to enable me to leave the tiller to look after itself on rather shorter trips in the English Channel. I have located Bill Belcher's book and hope it will give me some more material for my endless project.
TT

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Wind vanes don't only work on ocean crossings - they work virtually anywhere provided the wind direction is steady. We use ours even for very short passages. Only making the point that electronic pilots are far from 100% reliable.

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Another excellent site if you're really into making one is accessed via cruisenews.net - as I've also been researching wind vane self steering, but I'm not up to maing my own



<hr width=100% size=1>Sarah&Pip
 
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