catamarans & windvanes

[rvkramer]

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with windvans & cats. My understanding is the rapid shift of apparent wind was a problem with light weight racing cats and less a problem with cruisers. Just the cautious side of me looking for a non-electric backup.

Fair winds

[WHOOSH]

RV, I don´t think the relative wind issues (shifting not only in direction but also in strength) with today´s cruising cats is any different than today´s lighter displacement cruising monohulls. In fact, cruising boats in larger sizes that are designed to sail fast (Beth Leonard/Evans Starzinger''s HAWK is a good example) experience far more acceleration/wind shift issues than a 40-50 cat is likely to demonstrate.

Jack

[Billpjr]

I sailed on an old 36'' Piver ketch with a Hasler servo-pendulum vane. That vane wouldn''t react fast enough on a hard beat. It kept letting the port hull fly too high and made the stb hull want to stuff itself. The wind was blowing 15-20kts and seas were 3-4'' short chop (on the Bahama banks). Just rough enough to worry about a minor pitchpole. This boat was cruising and loaded heavily but still leaped off the tops of waves.

[whoulihan]

The folks at Scanmar International that sell monitor vanes seem to think that it works OK. I cannot understand how, for example, having the vane on the stbd hull on a close-hauled port tack would work. Seems like the vane would be in a big windshadow. When I spoke to them at the Oakland boat show last year, they seemed convinced that they would work, and had customers who used them.
I suggest contacting them for their opinion. They are very knowledgeable and have sold thousands of vanes over the years.
Good Luck