windvanes

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johnnycomelately

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We are looking to buy a windvane for our 31.6ft Westerly Longbow. We are coming down in favour of the Neptune system, partly because of cost but also looks nice and simple to use and fit.
Has anyone any tales to tell, good or bad, about Neptune or any other systems for that matter.
Cheers
Ian
 
I have been doing some research on windvanes - general consesus seems to be that Hydrovane is the best/most popular system (especially for long passages) as it requires no lines running to the cockpit (especially good for centre cockpit boats) and can be used as an emergency rudder.

Mind you - expensive bits of kit - looking at the thick end of £4k new - and 20 years old ones have been going for over £2k second hand!

Just what I've heard so far during my hunt ...

Jonny
 
14,000 miles and never missed a beat with my Hydrovane. Kept a course in a 55kt storm. Truly fantastic piece of kit, mine is 12 years old and second hand, but the customer service when I needed some advice when fitting to the new boat was exceptional. No links to them, just very impressed and satisfied. Mine also survived the hurricane that wrecked the boat. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
I fitted a Neptune a couple of years ago and its been great. it took me to Spain and back last year and steered all the way in all kinds of weather. Its well designed, sensitive, accurate and powerful. Its also light at about 15kg. One thing is its only held onto the bracket by one bolt so its easy to steal but also easy to take off if you dont want it on there the whole time. Its also very well priced and the guy who designed and sells them is very helpful.

Colin
 
Agreed totally re the Hydrovane - we have one, and they are brilliant. Ours is about 12 -13 years old now, and so far we have only had to renew one little part of the linkage inside which sheared.

I have a friend who had a Westerly Longbow (nice boats), and after 5 Atlantic passages in about 12 years, the boat was on her third rudder...... and he did not have a Hydrovane.....

Hydrovanes are worth their cost just for the reassurance of having a reliable emergency rudder - and they do work well!
 
I'm still using my old but trusty Aries, with 100,000 miles under sail. Its much repaired and gradually falling apart now though, and its time is almost due. I think I would prefer another servo-pendulum type rather than a trim-tab like the Hydrovane, even though we have a centre cockpit.
 
Having been on an Atlantic crossing when another (almost new) yacht lost her rudder and was then lost, I was very grateful that we had a "spare" via the hydro.
 
Previous two boats (monohulls) had Windpilot vane gear, the original design with auxiliary rudder and vertical axis blade. Found it worked well on the first so bought one for the next, but they were well balanced boats. Unfortunately, this model is no longer available as it lacked the power to control modern designs which frequently change hull / sail balance with small changes in wind speed and angle of heel. Mechanically the design was a lot simpler than hydrovane.

Looked at Hydrovane for current boat but decided a third rudder would be overdoing it. Eventually fitted the Monitor gear which is great. Even works down wind in very light airs using the standard vane (a larger vane is provided for these conditions). Also, the Monitor servo paddle is probably big enough to act as a jury rudder if locked in the vertical position, if not they provide an add on emergency rudder kit.

Expensive, but got mine second hand (with new bearings) for the price of the cheaper options mentioned above.

Whatever gear you get, it will work best (and the boat will sail better) when the sail plan is well balanced and the boat light on the helm, so be prepared to play with sail trim and take a bit of time to get the boat and vane gear set up right.

As an example: when beating in squally conditions for about 18 hours (two reefs main, staysail and about half genoa) I rolled more or less genoa to cope with the conditions but did not touch the steering settings. The boat consistently sailed closer to the wind in the squalls with just a couple of metres of genoa clew unrolled than in the less strong winds and half the genoa out. Sail area was being adjusted to keep Boat speed at around five knots as much more was just too uncomfortable.

Have fun.
 
I have a Windpilot Pacific Light on my UFO27, which is brilliant but would be too light for your Longbow. The harder the wind the better it sails the boat.
I would highly recommend the free book that is available on Peter Storrman's website http://www.windpilot.com/
He discusses all the different alternatives and deals with sailing with windvanes in general. I found it a very balanced book, but I did buy his system after reading it as I felt for me his was the best for the price and the weight of my boat.
Everyone I know who has an Aries absolutely swear by them, but I felt it was too heavy for my boat. But I know a few people who have Hasler systems too and they swear by them as well.
 
Hydrovane..
They are around second hand-I bought mine missing its windvane and plastic cover very very cheaply,someone wanted to fit a brand new Monitor.
I can testify to its simplicity and proven ruggedness.There are very few 'expensive' things that I have purchased whose price I have later begrudged when they continue to provide dependable service!
The Neptune system is one of the very few that I am not familiar with. Looking at their website www.windvane.co.uk/ my only concern is-is it strong enough to take harbour abuse from reversing,getting a stern line caught around the casting and dinghies bashing into it repeatedly?
 
I just had a look at the Neptune following Blueboatman's link. the first thing I noticed was the course adjusting crank which would solve the one problem I have with my model of Windpilot. To make fine adjustments to course I've got to lean out over the transom to adjust the windvane. It would be nice if I didn't have to crawl over the tiller lines to have to do that. And although I have bodged my own system [copied from someone else] with a piece of line wrapped about twelve times around the windvane upright and led back to cleats in the cockpit, I do like the look of that course adjusting crank. The only thing I do like about adjusting the windpilot that is not obvious on the Neptune is when you want to make a major adjustment such as when tacking you can do it very quickly whereas I wouldn't want to be turning that crank for however long it took. A bit like a sextant you want both major adjustment to the angle and fine adjustment and you don't want to spend too long on either.
 
- is it strong enough to take harbour abuse from reversing,getting a stern line caught around the casting and dinghies bashing into it repeatedly? -

No. We were berthed bows-to in Ajaccio in July. A mobo reversed at unbelievable speed down the passage between the two rows of boats and into his berth almost directly astern of us. He completely misjudged the entry and his anchor sideswiped my Windpilot. A quick examination showed it to have swivelled around about 30 degrees from vertical, I thought due to rotation of the stub shaft in the fixed casting. This was totally seized, requiring dismantling to get it off the boat.

The mobo owner was initially quite helpful and arranged for a local engineer to release it. However, when the job was returned he tried to claim that the parts were already damaged and that we should go halves on the cost (270 Euros) I resisted and eventually he paid up with bad grace and harsh words. When I examined the pilot in more detail I found that in fact the stub shaft is bent and I am unable to disassemble the unit. Now I shall need to bring it home for reworking, so it will not be available for next season.

If I was in this situation again I would consider removing the windpilot every time we berthed in a relatively narrow marina. A pain in the *rse but possibly worth it in the long run.
 
I'd say any winvane is vulnerable to being bashed in harbour, not just the Neptune. It is at least very simple to remove if you want to. To tack you disconnect the control lines from the tiller, tack by hand and then adjust the vane. The adjustment is by winding a handle which is long enough to be quite accesible in the stern. For short tacking I wouldn't be using vane steering, I use it on passages.
Colin
 
Hi smiffy ,looks a bit like my Navik . If it is the same then its a worthwhile piece of kit .
 
[ QUOTE ]
Hi smiffy ,looks a bit like my Navik . If it is the same then its a worthwhile piece of kit .

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I think there are some similarities, the build quality and inherent strength are really good, and the performance on all points of sailing is remarkable!
 
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