Steersman?

[Signed Out]

If I was in the market. (In the future hopefully so).
If I had the money. (And for the STs).
If there was a model for a smaller boat (25').

I would certainly consider it. Trim is a big enough problem on a skrawny little bucket like mine.

 

[fireball]

The point is. Do you like it?

Ok - well, our boat is 37' and wheel steered - so your current device won't work anyway ...
We have a wheel pilot which works reasonably well - and responds to changes in heading - it can also respond to wind direction and probably steer to a waypoint but we don't use these.
I'd like to change the wheel pilot because I think it's flawed in one main area - in a sea it's course keeping is less than ideal - especially with a quartering sea (from astern) ...

I can see what your device does, but:
It's too bulky
It's too labour intensive to set up (for me - I'd want a clip and go)
It's too costly - for what is effectively a simple mech - Pivot & Spring.

If it was significantly cheaper and I needed a tiller pilot then I would be tempted to test one.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I think that I'd experiment with an DIY set up before contemplating buying one. And if it worked, I'd probably stick with the DIY set up that I knew worked and that I thoroughly understood!

Seriously, there are lots of DIY set-ups freely documented on the web. They can be implemented for a few tens of pounds (a few blocks and a bit of shock cord is about all; perhaps a few feet of scrap wood). What advantage does this have that is worth £2,500? Point is, the direct competition is something costing tens of pounds, not thousands.

Another point is that a conventional vane system can use a servo mechanism to increase the steering forces available, providing (at least in theory) positive control at low relative wind speeds, down to the regime where steerage way is lost.

Finally, changes in wind speed will result in a change of heading as the relevant forces change. So, it is only useful in areas where both wind speed and direction are fairly constant.

 

[panthablue]

I take your point. the Steersman does need a fairly steady wind. It's only in places like the Solent where the wind is affected by the land, where quite often the set up goes haywire when the wind changes direction by 20 degrees or more in a matter of seconds and halving or doubling its strength at the same time.

Out at sea it's not a problem. If the wind strengthens, simply haul in some more shock cord through the jamb cleat to pull the boat back on course, and visa versa of if the wind slackens. You can also steer round buoys using this method too.

Also, I would like to point out that it does work with a wheel. The link arm (steering pole) is simply clipped to a small fitting attached to one of the spokes on the lower half of the wheel.

At a radius of 30 cm you get about 45 degrees of wheel movement each way, which equates to about 18 degrees of rudder movement if you have a 2.5:1 gear ratio.

 

[prv]

quite often the set up goes haywire when the wind changes direction by 20 degrees or more

That doesn't sound very good. I would expect a vane gear in the same situation to simply follow the wind round - ok, that puts you off course somewhat, but you're still travelling towards your destination and at passage-making timescales half an hour (say) in slightly the wrong the direction isn't going to make much difference. Whereas a system that "goes haywire" presumably needs me to drop what I'm doing and attend to it.

Out at sea it's not a problem. If the wind strengthens, simply haul in some more shock cord

What if I'm an oceangoing singlehander and I'm asleep?

With a vane, strength of wind ought to have no effect on the course.

Pete

 

[panthablue]

Hi Pete

I think you are misunderstanding. The Solent has some extreme wind changes. Out at sea, this does not occur. Wind changes are generally gradual.

And if you are asleep, it's easy to set up your GPS with an alarm to wake you up when the boat diverges from course by say a couple of hundred metres, or half a mile etc depending on the circumstances.

 

[prv]

And if you are asleep, it's easy to set up your GPS with an alarm to wake you up when the boat diverges from course by say a couple of hundred metres, or half a mile etc depending on the circumstances.

Ah - so the hauling in the shockcord is needed only to maintain the course? If you don't do so it carries on working, just on the wrong course? (or same relative to the wind). In that case I did misunderstand, I thought you meant it would stop working ("go haywire"). Sounds much the same as a vane in that case.

Pete

 

[panthablue]

Yes, sorry. I'm too close to the subject, and din't explain properly. Let me try again.

The tension in the jib sheet is balanced against the spring. If the jib sheet tension is stronger, then the Steersman platform swings forward, and if the spring is stronger then the Steersman platform swings aft. The movement is transmitted to the helm via the link arm (steering pole).

Now in order to accommodate the wide range of jib sheet tension, the spring is in the form of a length of shock cord fitted in to a 'block and tackle' arrangement. The double block is attached to the stern end of the boat, usually the pushpit. The fixed end and the single block are attached to the platform using carbine hooks. the tail end passes through a cheek block and a jamb cleat, both mounted on the platform.

For coarse adjustment, the fixed-end and / or the single block can be unclipped from the platform and attached to a stanchion-eye fitted to a nearby stanchion. By swapping these round, the spring ranges from one strand of shock cord up to four strands. With fine adjustment made by adjusting the tail end in the jamb cleat.

OK; so you are sailing along on a narrow / beam reach, and the wind changes direction by a few degrees. Simply re-tension the tail end in the jamb cleat. For a slightly larger change in wind direction and / or wind strength, lock off the platform to prevent it swinging, adjust the sails, add in, or take out a strand of shock cord, release the lock and make the final adjustments with the jamb cleat until she's back on course.

Does that explain it OK?