Wind van self steering

[PeterSailer]

I think that one of the most important piece of equipment a cruising yatch need
is a self steering wind van. But I have one question that I can seem to find a response for... here it is.

Lets say that your cruising and the wind van is steering. Now the wind is starting to grow stonger and stronger, if you drop the genoa(no roller furling), is the boat gonnna head up wind or is the wind van will be able to deal with the weather helm you just created??(yes i would raise a jib as soon as possible)

EDIT: the wind van is a servo pendulum

Thanks

[sailingdog]

Depends on the windvane design. Some windvanes will be able to handle the weather helm, others, especially the pure-wind vanes without a servo-pendulum, will not.

The key to having a windvane or autopilot work well is keeping the boat balanced.

[PeterSailer]

The key to having a windvane or autopilot work well is keeping the boat balanced.

Yeah I know but it's not possible to allways keep it balance...If you need to change your head sail, your boat will be unbalance for a little while, and I wanted to know if a servo-pendulum could deal with that.

Anyone with hands on experience with a servo-pendulum can tell me if it will hold on to it's cours while you change a head sail or reef the main sail.

[sailingdog]

Again, it really depends on a lot of factors, like what kind of wind vane you are using, what make/model boat you've got it mounted on, how strong the winds are, how much mainsail you have up and how the mainsail is trimmed.

If you ease off on the mainsheet, I'd bet that most servo-pendulum designs would be able to handle it. If you don't ease the mainsheet, then all bets are off, since some boats have an extreme amount of weather helm.

Originally Posted by PeterSailer

Yeah I know but it's not possible to allways keep it balance...If you need to change your head sail, your boat will be unbalance for a little while, and I wanted to know if a servo-pendulum could deal with that.

Anyone with hands on experience with a servo-pendulum can tell me if it will hold on to it's cours while you change a head sail or reef the main sail.

[PeterSailer]

I'm thinking of a boat like contessa26, alberg30 or douglas32 and lets say a caphorn wind vane. Your sailling on a beam reach with your sails(full main and genoa) perfectly trimed, and then you drop the genoa. Is she gonna keep going? Even if she change cours a bit it really doesn't matter.

By the way, thanks for your time, it's nice to have some active members in here.

[sailingdog]

On a beam reach, yes, the windvane would probably be able to steer the boat, especially if you ease the main sheet a tiny bit... but you might not even have to do that, given a full keel design like the three you're discussing. (at least I think the Douglas 32 is a full keeler).

[JonEisberg]

Any modern servo-pendulum vane should handle that, no problem… There’s a lot of variables, of course, but a vane like my Sailomat can generate a truly impressive amount of force – WAY more than my Raymarine 6000 GP tillerpilot will, for example… Sorry, I have no experience with the Cape Horn vanes, and have never quite understood exactly how they work, compared to my Sailomat, or a Monitor...

It’s also possible to compensate for weather helm, to a certain extent, by an adjustment of the control lines – in effect, adding a bit of “Gain” to the weather side… But the scenario you envision, seems to me the simplest thing would be to head up to do your reefing, anyway...

I can’t possibly speak too highly about the value of a good servo-pendulum vane… Single most impressive piece of gear I’ve ever added to my boat, by a wide margin… They really are what sailing is all about, I can just sit and watch mine do it’s thing for hours on end – akin to a perpetual motion machine, or truly getting something for nothing, the boat solely under the control of the wind and water… An almost mystical blend of art and engineering, putting a vane on my boat was almost like a Revelation – for the first time, I really understood I could now go ANYWHERE…

Really a pity they haven’t achieved wider currency, at least among American cruisers… I’m convinced, the main reason is that they cannot be interfaced to steer to a waypoint… (grin) That, and perhaps the fear of the potential learning curve in getting the best out of a vane, they’re definitely not a plug n’ play piece of gear…

This is an old pic, my first Sailomat 601 on its way to Bermuda… I’ve since upgraded to a 700, a friend made me an offer I couldn’t refuse…

[PeterSailer]

(at least I think the Douglas 32 is a full keeler).

Yes it is a full keeler. =p

Very nice picture Jon, and very good info you got there, thanks. Now I know what I wanted to know. A wind vane is probably the first upgrade I will make to my next boat. My next boat will be capable of crossing oceans and long term cruising because to me, thats what sailing is all about.

What kind of boat is that?? It almost look like a Cal 34 cockpit...

[chrisncate]

I have an Alberg 30, and I wanted the Cape Horn vane like you would not believe, but after seeing it in person at last years Annapolis boat show, I realized that all the internals would reside inside my lazarette, and that is not an acceptable waste of space imo. Most of my sails (hank ups) live in there.

It's a shame, the Cape Horn is so beautiful in it's design, it makes the outside of the boat look fantastic (there is barely anything there). It is truly a work of art. The things I can not accept about the Cape Horn are the holes required to install and the loss of internal stowage on my particular boat.

Cape Horn says only one hole, but that's not true. You have to have the control lines run through holes in the aft bulkhead that makes up the front of the lazarette. In the event of being pooped, those holes become water inlets to the lazarette.

I will go with the Monitor and its ugly frame. At least with the monitor, if I go overboard while tethered, it will give me a place to climb back in on.

That thing is like a cell phone tower hanging off the back of the boat, but it's removable and it takes up NO internal space.

FWIW..

[sailingdog]

A couple of major advantages of a windvane over an autopilot is the physical robustness and no need for electrical power... IMHO, that's one reason Jessica Watson succeeded where Abby Sunderland failed.