dulls
N/A
Balance is the issue. I think the aries no 5 was more forgiving of my bad trim! I think a hydro would make me concentrate.
Wind Vanes - Do they work as well as we would like?
- Thread starter Scotty_Tradewind
- Start date
Ohlin Karcher
N/A
I love my Aries, to the extent that when it got broken in half in a collision, and I was looking for a replacement, the idea of swapping brands did not even cross my mind..
a comment, you may hear that wind vanes are only worth bothering with for long legs on the same course, but I engage the Aries at any possible opportunity, even if it's just a couple of miles, why not?
a comment, you may hear that wind vanes are only worth bothering with for long legs on the same course, but I engage the Aries at any possible opportunity, even if it's just a couple of miles, why not?
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
Good point worth making & I do the same:encouragement:
Kukri
Well-Known Member
Interesting thread.
Nobody seems to want to remove their vane and rely on an autopilot.
Nobody seems to want to remove their vane and rely on an autopilot.
PhillM
Well-Known Member
New to wind vanes, Cheverton Caravel. 24 foot long keeler, Seafeather = loving it 
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
I have a Sea Feather on my boat, but it has been out of service for years and I use a tiller pilot instead.
When the Sea Feather worked it was wonderful, but I found it extremely difficult to set up. It had a tendency to get into a funny state where the water vane was right over one way and the tiller was right over the other but the boat didn't turn back on course and simply sailed sideways in the wrong direction. I think it was a mixture of an unbalanced sailplan (rolling away some jib helped) and huge sensitivity to any slack at all in the rope + chain control circuit. Unfortunately you have to have slack in that to get the chain over the tiller drive peg, and that was just enough to mess things up.
I'm not giving up on it, but I think it's going to take a day or two of careful experimentation to get the installation right. The makers were very helpful and offered to diagnore from a video of it (not) working but closed before I could get that done.
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
Normally, that is just a case of putting the peg through a different link in the chain to bring the oar back into the centre & give the vane some weather (or is it lea?) helm to start with. Slack is not a problem on the lea side, only on the pulling side, so you work the peg along the chain to suit. The boat will pull itself back up to windward so the gear does not normally have to pull so much on your "slack" side unless running down wind. Then you usually need a more positive response, but it depends on a host of factors.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Many thanks. It's a while since I fiddled with the thing, but I think a failure to behave as you describe may have been the problem. Perhaps it's because my boat has a long keel, but left to its own devices the tiller doesn't move around very much. I think it probably needed a firm pull to the lee side at times but the slack in the system prevented it getting that. End result: wind vane flopped over, water vane to the side, tiller still on the wrong side. It was Sea Feather themselves, by the way, who said I needed to get the slack out of the system.
You've given me much to think about, though, and I'll certainly plan to have another go at the thing when a suitable day presents itself.
Pye_End
Well-Known Member
I prefer the Pacific Light tiller chain grip as it has less slack in it than the Sea Feather. You could put some rolling hitches in the control lines so that once the chain is on you can set it up tight afterwards. You don't want it drum tight, but I do find it works better with a lack of slack, though there are plenty of Youtube videos sailing successfully with slack.
You should be able to get the set up working well - ie it is a matter of fiddling with it all (including sail plan) rather than deciding there is something about the set-up which makes it not work on your boat.
As a matter of interest how much rake do you have in your mast? Do you typically sail with a neutral helm, or lee or weather helm?
You should be able to get the set up working well - ie it is a matter of fiddling with it all (including sail plan) rather than deciding there is something about the set-up which makes it not work on your boat.
As a matter of interest how much rake do you have in your mast? Do you typically sail with a neutral helm, or lee or weather helm?
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Thank you. I think I am probably going to need some slack adjustment in the control circuit, though how I implement that will depend on how sensitive it all seems to friction.
I am optimistic that fiddling will solve things and feel a bit guilty about having gone so long without fiddling. Mainly that's because I sikaflexed the drive peg to a new tiller and then discovered that I could not transfer the tiller pilot drive bracket, so I currently have two tiller, one for wind vane and one for tiller pilot. Oops.
I haven't measured the rake, although I did notice that it seems to be back a bit this year. On the other hand, the whole boat seems to be down at the stern, though that may be down to the new Nanni, which is a bit heavier than the old Yanmar. I'm planning a standing rigging swap this winter, so will get a rigger's opinion then.
No lee helm, thank God. In light winds the tiller is pretty neutral but by 20kts and full sail (At which point Chuck Paine thinks I should be at 20o of heel) there is substantial weather helm - although a lot reduced since I bought a new mainsail
webcraft
Well-Known Member
michael_w
Well-Known Member
The lines need to be tight. but not too tight! Harken blocks a necessity.
PhillM
Well-Known Member
Can you get to Dartmouth? If you can I am sure Lee would come sailing with you and sort it out. re slack in the chain, not really needed as you can un-clip, put over the tiller and re-clip. On occasion, I have found that a useful way to engage / un-engage.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately Dartmouth would be a bit of a trek from the Clyde, but I'll give Lee a call and ask. Thanks for the recommendation.
stevie69p
Well-Known Member
Just to add to the general thread...
I built a Hebridean from a kit late last year. Only really got a chance to use it last month on a 4 week cruise. It performed very well indeed, including an 85 mile jaunt overnight from Northern Ireland to the Isle of Man, and the 115 mile leg from the Isle of Man back to the Clyde. I'm single handed, so some form of self steering is a necessity.
I was particularly impressed by how well it steered downwind, in fact on a dead down wind run it tracked true to the wind and corrected shifts quickly. It's a good option if you are fairly handy at woodwork and assembly, and was an interesting project.
I also have a tiller pilot that gets used when motoring, and both pieces of kit have a place on board.
I built a Hebridean from a kit late last year. Only really got a chance to use it last month on a 4 week cruise. It performed very well indeed, including an 85 mile jaunt overnight from Northern Ireland to the Isle of Man, and the 115 mile leg from the Isle of Man back to the Clyde. I'm single handed, so some form of self steering is a necessity.
I was particularly impressed by how well it steered downwind, in fact on a dead down wind run it tracked true to the wind and corrected shifts quickly. It's a good option if you are fairly handy at woodwork and assembly, and was an interesting project.
I also have a tiller pilot that gets used when motoring, and both pieces of kit have a place on board.
Buck Turgidson
Well-Known Member
I have a Hydra Auto steer trim tab on my twister. It's purely ornamental as there is so much slop in the shaft to the tab that i can move the input arm hard over without the tab moving!!
That's not to say the system is no good but i'm working on a new shaft drive to remove the two universal joints and replace with a single bevel gear. It will be a winter project and the last chance for the Hydra. If that doesn't fix it it's getting replaced by a solar panel.
That's not to say the system is no good but i'm working on a new shaft drive to remove the two universal joints and replace with a single bevel gear. It will be a winter project and the last chance for the Hydra. If that doesn't fix it it's getting replaced by a solar panel.
Ohlin Karcher
N/A
Interesting, may I politely point out that you don't need to accept play in U/J's, and they are cheap, as are shaft bushes.
Also could the play be elsewhere, eg pintles?
I would love to see photos of your arrangement if possible.
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Ohlin Karcher
N/A
Very interesting, why Harken in particular? Is it because they are ball or roller bearing instead of plain bushes, to reduce friction?
It's a point I was intending to optimise on my Aries tiller installation (with 4 turning blocks...)
geem
Well-Known Member
We use a Windpilot steering our heavy 44ft centre cockpit Van de Stadt. The Windpilot is very powerful. Our boat wheel has 3.5 turns lock to lock. Most boats are normally about 2 turns lock to lock. As a result of the number of turns our system has, the Windpilot didn't do enough steering when I first installed it. In a large quartering sea, she would be pushed off course and the Windpilot simple wouldn't turn the wheel far enough to get her back on course. I installed a 1:2 pulley system in the lines such that the wheel now turns twice as much for the same line movement at the Windpilot. It does this even with the pendulum on the Windpilot adjusted for maximum leverage. We are very happy with the Windpilot. It takes up minimal space on our transom when not in use and can be folded away and deployed at sea. A great bit of kit.
We also have a powerful below decks autopilot and a complete spare. I believe you need both if you are sailing with just two people. Like having an extra crew member. In rough weather the Windpilot performs every bit as well as the autopilot
michael_w
Well-Known Member
IMHO Harken blocks with ball bearings are required for pendulum servo tiller/wheel lines. They also come with a lifetime guarantee. If it breaks, they replace.