A Wind Vane Manufacturer Round Up

[sailingdog]

This is a post I made on another forum and I thought it might be of interest to some here.

Just FYI—a fairly complete list of commercial windvane manufacturers

Aries — Danish built. Not really suitable for smaller boats, as gear is heavy—35 kg or so. Servo Pendulum design
Beaufort — Very heavy French design for boats over 9m LOA. Servo Pendulum design
Cape Horn — French Canadian built, about $3,500-4,000. Servo Pendulum design
Fleming — Aussie built, Servo Pendulum design
Hydrovane — $4,000–5,000. Built in Vancouver, BC. Aux. Rudder design
Mr. Vane/Mr. Vee — Dutch based relative newcomer, fairly lightweight, has durability issues. Servo Pendulum design
Neptune — British built, Servo Pendulum design
Norvane — So. Calif. based. Fairly economical at $2000 or so. Servo Pendulum design
Sailomat — So. Calif. based. Servo Pendulum design
Scanmar — No. Calif. based mfg. of Monitor, Saye's Rig, and Auto-Helm windvane lines $3,000-5,000
South Atlantic — Argentina-based. about 950 Euros, Servo Pendulum design
Voyager — Made in Ontario, CN. Servo Pendulum design
WindPilot — Fairly light Servo Pendulum design

hope this helps.

[erps]

Thanks for the list. I don't think Hydrovane is a servo-pendulum unit though if I understand the term correctly.

[Capnblu]

Hydrovane is sold from Vancouver BC, but is manufactured in the UK. Price is $6200 cdn. before taxes or delivery.

[sailingdog]

Correct, it is an Aux. Rudder design... my bad... I've fixed it in the first post.

Originally Posted by erps

Thanks for the list. I don't think Hydrovane is a servo-pendulum unit though if I understand the term correctly.

[Giulietta]

You forgot the SWAY...it allways points towards the 'winning" wind....especially political winds...wind is his field...


By the way..nice thread and list...

[valis]

Scanmar is in northern California (Alameda).

[Valiente]

I bought a Voyager this year, and the guy who made it installed it. When I get my boat moving again next year, I'll report on it.

It is certainly one of the more beautiful pieces of engineering I've ever seen.

[GBurton]

The South Atlantic is made in South America not South Africa
Easy for a multihuller to get confused between the two I guess

[Faster]

A friend currently cruising the Mexico Pacific coast installed a Hydrovane this summer before departure.. That is one beautifully engineered piece of work!

Apparently it's functioning very well indeed.

[Sequitur]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

WindPilot — Fairly light Servo Pendulum design

WindPilot makes several models, from a light Servo Pendulum design to a robust Servo-Assisted Auxiliary Rudder system.