Wind Speed & Direction recommendations wanted

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airborne1

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The boat I have just bought, a Luke 5 Tonner Bermuda Sloop fractional rig, does not have a WS&D set-up. I have a few questions if anyone would care to advise me:
1 What priority would you place on spending money on a WS&D indication
2 What is the general opinion of Solid State Ultrasonic type sensors
3 Any recommendations of the best value-for-money buy
4 Can you get a USB type to plug into a Laptop
5 Best position to place it e.g new platform on the mast-top, lower down on the side/aft etc
6 Any general comments on this
Thanks in advance
 
Re: Wind Speed & Direction recommendations wanted

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Piece of ribbon tied to the rigging should suffice, cheap and accurate.

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However, major problems when you come to interface it to the laptop.
 
Personally I would not get one at all and spend on something else.

I use a handheld wind meter and a pendant for WS/D. I was really tempted to add a wind gadget to my list of must gets, but then I made a shocking discovery when sailing on others AWB: It seems people these days sail mesmorized in front of the digital read-outs. So much so that I have often been severly reprimanded for being in the way and blocking out the screen during a tack or gybe because the helm at the time was not confident enough to take her round without looking at that digi-read out!

Save yourself a few bob, a hole in the bridge deck or hatch, and become a more confident sailor trimming the sails according to the feel of the helm, the wind on the back of your neck, and looking at the water instead of a screen.
 
Raymarine are very well thought of,

or should I join the win speed & direction is the invention of the devil brigade, yawn.
 
G'day Brian,

Our most recent boat came with a truck load of electronics that included WS+D, it was only after we completed the delivery (about 600 Nm) that I realised I had not even looked at it, though my Son assures me it was turned on the whole time.

If you need advice on what direction the air coming from a length of wool on each of the shrouds about 6 feet above deck will be fine, or a mast head wind vane if you want to be a bit fancy, but just the mechanical job; you have to look up to read it.

As for wind speed, the rig and sail plan should be giving you more feedback than you need, or get one of the pocket indicators, no battery required.

Spend the money on some good safety gear and spare parts, because you are going to need them.

Avagoodweekend......
 
WSD instruments are probably the lowest on the list of gismos to buy - you can get the info by looking etc & they are the most unreliable.
If you must get one then Raymarine kit is good and easy to install and automatically "talks" to other Raymarine kit you have.
 
dont get nasa, my one the cups blew off and it reads 33% under the true wind speed after being fixed. many people have had bad experiences with the nasa wind gear
 
Thanks very much to all the contributers. They were most interesting and have saved me a nice wad of cash. I accept all that you have said and will now be able to go to the SBS with lots of "goodie" money that I saved on the WS+D
 
You tapped into a real seam of Luddites with this one . Yes what they say say is all true but looking constantly at the mast head will make your neck ache. When you have a less experienced helm it is often easier for them to steer a course from apparent wind angle, easily seen from a dial. If you have sailed with wind instruments I bet you will miss them sailing with out. If you have only sailed with out you don't know what your missing
I have recently installed tack-tick after sailing most of the season with a slowly failing B&G outfit . Good kit no wires in mast and interface with auto pilot . No connection to tack-tick.

Cheers
 
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You tapped into a real seam of Luddites with this one . Yes what they say say is all true but looking constantly at the mast head will make your neck ache. When you have a less experienced helm it is often easier for them to steer a course from apparent wind angle, easily seen from a dial. If you have sailed with wind instruments I bet you will miss them sailing with out. If you have only sailed with out you don't know what your missing
I have recently installed tack-tick after sailing most of the season with a slowly failing B&G outfit . Good kit no wires in mast and interface with auto pilot . No connection to tack-tick.

Cheers

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I agree. It may sound trivial not to have to look up at the Windex to check apparent wind direction but on a long run to windward under changeable conditions it's a bonus. If the display is at eye level eg. above the companion way then you can include it in your general scanning around. Yes, they cost money but I'd rate one far higher than any plotter.
 
I've had the lot.
This is what you need for sailing a yacht: (everything else causes aggravation or actually reduces the enjoyment of sailing)
Woolies on the shrouds or an ear attached each side of your head.
An electronic depth sounder.
Handhld GPS.
A few paper charts.
If you can't translate your GPS position to a paper chart in 60 seconds you shouldn't be in charge of a boat.
As for a laptop on a yacht, words fail me....!
Sorry in advance if this sounds rude and arrogant but the marine electronics industry and associated advertising should not be allowed to get away with brainwashing which is what they try to do.
 
G'day Howard (H4B)

I'm no Luddite, We Have a 25 amp Hi Tech Battery Charger, Xantrex 10 battery monitor, (we have 8 batteries), 3 solar panels, Vhf, fixed and h/held, Raytheon sounder, log, GPS plotter, radar, 12 v windlass, 2 x fridge freezers, 4 man life raft, 4 bilge pumps, reverse cycle air conditioning, pressured hot-cold water, electric toilet, wireless laptop, oh and WS&D.

Most of the boats I have owned had most of the above, the only new (to me) item was the radar that is very handy on night passage.

Hardly a Luddite.

Avagoodweekend......
 
OK, I conceed your no luddite, but you have WS&D why discourage airbourne 1 from getting one . From his BIO 'he' loves all that tech stuff , blimmy he even wants one with a USB port thinghy . Bet he buys one before long in any case.


I border on Ludditism my self , but I do like my WS&D . I learned to sail with out any of it and could quite easily sail with out . But you know , boats and kit , its just all part of the obsession

Cheers
 
I agree entirely with your statements re plotting , chart plotters, laptops etc but having sailed with out WS&D for a while , I missed it and believe most people benefit and sail more efficiently if they can refer to it.
 
Re: Wind Speed & Direction recommendations wanted

You don't really keep looking up at the masthead, do you ? You could easily be taught better methods of knowing where the wind is and how your sails are trimmed at eye level.
A Luke 5 tonner is such a lovely boat, it seems a pity to fit it out with gizmos which reduce your satisfaction from using your own senses.
Ken
 
Re: Wind Speed & Direction recommendations wanted

I'm with the luddites. I have a windvane at my mast head, but I don't look at it much. I have an interesting assortment of ribbon and yarn stuck to various bits of my boat, including a highly effective piece of red sequinned underwear ribbon from a previous owner.

Also, can anyone tell me why there is any discussion about using true vs apparent wind? Any wind measurement taken from a moving boat is apparent wind. The only way to arrive at a 'true' wind direction is to calculate it from the measured apparent wind direction. Since 'true' wind has no bearing on sailing, I'm not quite sure why one would do this.
 
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If you can't translate your GPS position to a paper chart in 60 seconds you shouldn't be in charge of a boat.


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That's all very well in a big enough boat but in a small boat beating to windward in a lumpy sea / F5, it is the best I can do to transfer the hand held GPS plot to a piece of paper, let alone plot it on the chart. Going down below in those (not uncommon) conditions is unpleasant and can be dangerous. Plus in a small boat you could well be short handed / solo as well.
So I think a chart plotter probably does have a place on small boats if used with common sense and all the usual caveats.

Wool / cassette tape on the shrouds for the wind though!
 
I am a gadget freak, but I did not have wind instruments on my last boat. Around 50% of my sailing has been on boats with and 50% without. There are 2 situations IMHO when they are useful.

1. A total novice on the helm will find it easier to look at a needle (but presumably will remain a novice for longer!)
2. Keeping an eye on actual windspeed when going downwind. On a run in a strengthening breeze, it is very easy to make the classic error of not noticing and ending-up dangerously over canvassed.
 
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