[WHOOSH]

I meant to include in the above comment that a new bulletin board on designing & building wind vanes, plus the use of commercially produced vanes, might be very useful to folks reading this thread. See http://cruisenews.net/cgi-bin/windvane/windvane.pl

When we read comments like Jeff''s about simple/effective set-ups capitalizing on a trailing trim tab and horizontally-pivoting vane, it reminds us that inventiveness and thoughtful consideration of options for our own individual boat go much further than reading brochures in understanding what''s possible today in vane selection & use.

And Thomas, sorry about the bum referral earlier in the thread - the book''s title is East to the Azores. It was written in the "relatively primitive" 70''s. <g>

Jack