Trailing logs, which is best?

[Plum]

I have been looking for a secondhand trailing log. Can anyone please tell me the good and bad points of the different types to help me choose the right one. Are there any best avoided? So far I have come across:

1) Walker Excelsior IV

2) Walker knotmaster MkIIIA

3) Walker Cherub 3

4) Wasp S10 (not sure who makes this one)

5) Stowe Trailing Log

are there others?

Thanks.

 

[Evadne]

There are others, such as the Autonic ( here .

I have used a Stowe since 1985, and it is pretty reliable although no longer manufactured. Spares can be had from A.W. marine in Gosport. Weak points are:
the impeller will eventually wear out and the accumulated miles indicator underreads if the battery gets low.

 

[Mirelle]

) Walker Excelsior IV

I have one. In fact, it's my second, my sister took the one that we inherited from my father and she bought me another. A really excellent bit of kit.

Be warned that if you tow it across the Atlantic and back without oiling it it will under-read, because the bearings will be shot.

In normal heavy weather it over-reads slightly (3-5%). Far more accurate than any through hull log.

Downside - spare rotators (hand made, brass) are hard to find

2) Walker knotmaster MkIIIA

Don't have one; cleverer than the Excelsior IV, in that it tells you how fast you are going (hence the name!) - uses a smaller rotator and lighter line. Spare rotators (plastic) easier to come by.

3) Walker Cherub 3

A good bit of kit but made for merchant ships and not suitable for yacht speeds. Give to your yacht club as a prize, maybe?

4) Wasp S10 (not sure who makes this one)

Believe cheaper copy of Knotmaster. May be wrong about that; certainly they look similar. Have used; OK.

Dunno

5) Stowe Trailing Log

Only one experience aboard friend's 1/4 tonner. Worked, could not say how well as was not navigating!

NB with all towed logs - hand them in calms. Unless you want the log line round the prop...!

 

[geoffatstanpit]

The knotmaster is aptly named - as a way of turning 100ft of line into a single gigantic knot it can't be beat.

The wasp has the same problem plus the leading edges of the twiddler aren't swept back enough so pick up weed.

The electric stowe doesn't have these problems and with a simple circuit to turn 12 volts into 9 the battery isn't an issue any more.

Geoff