self steering without a windvane

[joliette]

I am planning to sail from the Solent across Biscay and down into to the Med next Spring. I will be sailing short and singlehanded. My boat is a very well balanced, 37ft, long keel design. As far as I can tell she has never been fitted with a windvane yet has made many ocean passages. I am wondering what to do! Do I trust sheet to tiller methods? Do I buy an autohelm? Do I splash out on a windvane?

Does anyone have any experience of using sheet to tiller steering on ocean passages. Would you trust it as your only means of self steering?

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[Sea Devil]

I have never had much success with sheet to tiller steering - or heard of anyone who has... If the boat is fairly balanced then normally she will sail herself whilst you put the kettle on...

If you are only going down to the Med then you hardly need a wind self steering gear - provided you have got an electrical one, suitable for the boat, then the longest part of the passage is the 4-5 days across the bay.... In the med its no wind or fairly short hops.. And you will need an electrical ss just to hold the boat whilst you put the sail up - fenders out etc if you are single handing..

Wind self steering only really comes into its own on ocean passage - x the Atlantic - Pacific - Indian oceans when you need something that will work for weeks on end - not drain the batteries and not break down - most electical self steering gears break after a few of weeks of continuous 24x7 use. Also they really drain the batteries - the night time combination of SS running - nav lights - and a few extras like wind instruments, gps and you then need to run the engine daily for an hour or so to recharge.

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[AndrewB]

Agree.

My yacht will self-steer, but each point of sailing requires an exact balance of the sails and downwind particularly this means a serious reduction in sail area, hence slow speed.

As Bambola says, buy yourself an Autohelm or similar. If you often sail shorthanded, you'll soon wonder how you managed without. Wind self-steering is overkill for a one-off Biscay crossing and mostly coastal cruising in the Med.

 

[snowleopard]

i don't like steering for long periods so regard self-steering as essential, even with a crew. i was once forced to sail 800 miles singlehanded without it. it was possible but took most of my time and needed frequent attention. it's easy upwind but on a run the best you can hope for is short periods with the helm unattended.

most sail balance/string & bungy methods require sub-optimal sail trim so you go slower too.

and autopilots don't always break down. mine has steered the equivalent of half way round the world so far (raymarine hydraulic).

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[ChrisE]

And here's a book for you if you want the subject covered in depth:

Self-steering for sailing craft by John S Letcher jnr. It's out of print but you can get it, as I did, from Amazon from one of the specialist book shops.


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[roly_voya]

As a singlehander doing mostly coastal sailing if I had to choose between the auto-pilot and the cooker I would eat cold food! Used electric for some time, now have windvane and very impressed as it keeps the boat sailing to the optimum regardless of windshifts, less worry about gibing and much better performance on the wind. With a heavy long keeler the inertia of the boat damps everthing so she comes about nice and gently with time to set sail on the new tack. I have used it very sucssessfully short taking up rivers so definatly not 'only for ocean sailing' but does take a bit to get the best out of the system - electics had 'dialup course' which is much easier.

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[RPC]

Is Joliette a Robert Clarke design? If she is please PM me.

For information and articles on self steering systems see this link:

Have you visited the Blue Water Cruising Site <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.onpassage.com>http://www.onpassage.com ?

 

[trouville]

Im also alone, i have a 40foot motor sailer It has wheel stearing and when sailing will hold a course quite well. under power the prop makes stearing and course correction needed! i found a DIY wind vane in crusing world which i used untill i found a second hand hydro vane. Wind vanes are wonderful you just have to set the gps alarm in case of wind course shifts if your not in a hurry and not near land you can get some sleep if needed--but then you will need a radar contact alarm-- altogether wonderful todays modern technology.
Imagin i used to use a sextant and pocket calculator!!peww in those pre gps days i made amazing landfalls!!! not to far off but enough to run aground!! or worse leave France for maldon and arrive in southend!!!!! Or worse set a course for ostend and arrive in Jersey!! there they have 900foot tide difference plus or minus and 300knot tidel race anyway better to visit Jersey by air!! I was left aground and couldent get ashore for a pint! aboard there was and is only water!!pewww

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