Handheld wind meters

teshannon · #1 (**permalink**) 01-19-2008

It appears the birds have gotten to the cabling or connector at the top of the mast for my windmeter. Since I don't plan to pull the mast just for that repair and have no intentions of going up myself, I'm thinking of buying a handheld meter as an interim fix. Does anyone have experience with them? I read Practical Sailor's review of them and it looks like a good cheap temporary fix. The Speedtech Windmate is what I'm looking at.

CharlieCobra · #2 (**permalink**) 01-19-2008

I just got one last weekend and used it a bit then. It's too early to tell but I like it so far.

k1vsk · #3 (**permalink**) 01-19-2008

Had one of these (don't recall brand) aboard the boat I was on during Antigua race week last year and it was fun to compare but pretty useless for the following reason - it did not track well with the masthead instruments in that the real wind (not corrected apparent) and the deck level wind were observed to be completely unrelated both in terms of speed and direction. Recognizing this was on a boat with no appreciable deck level obstructions such as dodger, etc., it was a nice toy but of little value.

There is nothing that risky regarding a trip up the mast to fix it properly at the dock and is essential if you want any meaningful data.

sailingdog · #4 (**permalink**) 01-19-2008

Unfortunately, deck level wind readings are almost never the same as mast top level ones. This is mainly due to friction...the higher up you go, the less the wind is affected by it.

teshannon · #5 (**permalink**) 01-19-2008

Thanks for the input. Sounds like it's not the answer. K1, yeah when I was younger I went up the mast on my boat all the time (I had a Chance 33 at that time) but I'm an old fart now and I'll just wait until I have the mast pulled for another reason or get one of my sons to volunteer. In the meantime it's the old wet finger.

sck5 · #6 (**permalink**) 01-19-2008

I was on a boat in the chesapeake last november where we had both a handheld and the masthead. there was indeed a big difference.

sailaway21 · #7 (**permalink**) 01-19-2008

I've got to throw in with k1vsk on this one. I own one of the Speedtech's and they're supposed to be a decent version of a hand-held anemometer and if that's so, I'd recommend saving your money. Observation of sea state will work as well and more reliably. Before the Speedtech, I had one from WM ,made by Davis I believe, and it didn't work for squat right out of the box. I ended up with the Speedtech after doing a bit of research and now my only question for those who rated it well is; what the heck were they thinking?

christyleigh · #8 (**permalink**) 01-21-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by teshannon

It appears the birds have gotten to the cabling or connector at the top of the mast for my windmeter.

Just a thought since I was thinking the same way last spring when my wind info stopped...... Did you check the connection - if accessible - at the mast base ? On my last boat they wouldn't be without pulling the mast but now my connectors are accessible through a ceiling port and that was the problem - and easy fix