Why Self Steering

[Our Readers Write]

	Once you've been bitten by the sailing bug, there's no known cure.

By Christos Katehis

I was an ex-power boater looking for something more than going from point A to point B in a “Wall Street minute." One day a friend was bragging how he learned to sail in the Boy Scouts and how nice it was, so I decided to take him up on his experience and we rented a 27-foot sailboat from a rundown rental operator in Port Washington, NY, that very same afternoon for four hours!

After falsely stating that we were seasoned sailors we were aground four hours later having sailed all but a few hundred yards from the dock. The guy who rented us the boat suggested we take lessons, which we did, and so my sailing career officially started. 

After two seasons of learning to sail and leasing 16 to 27-foot boats ($500 each for the season) I was confident about buying a sailboat. My friend is not the committed type and was just along for the ride, but deep down I knew I was on to something big and decided to proceed alone in the purchase of a sailboat. 

After my research on what type of boat to buy, I chose the Alberg 30. I chose to purchase my 1969 Alberg 30, Kasia (#383), for two reasons: the enthusiasm and knowledge of the A30 Association, and the fact that I stumbled upon Yves Gelinas’ story and video. 

	The next step was acquiring his own boat and the author chose an Alberg 30, largely due to the enthusiasm of the A30 association.

Both of these reasons suggested I find myself an A30. I found Kasia on the Internet; she was in White Rocks Marina somewhere in the mid-Chesapeake Bay area. The owner had her for under a year and was not pleased with her. She was in excellent condition without any bells or whistles. I live in New York and had to bring her up here and decided to do it in several legs with my sailing buddy. 

He got seasick every minute of every leg and was down below making passionate love to a bucket. That left me on the tiller for hours on end. It was not a pleasant introduction to coastal cruising, single handling a boat that I had known for two weeks. In the wee hours of a cold March night while I was motoring up the Chesapeake towards the C&D canal I decided to give coastal sailing one more chance before giving up on it, by installing an auto pilot to help me out. 

	A self-steering wind vane is the icing on the cake for a coastal sailor, says the author.

I chose the Cape Horn because of its simplicity and elegance to match the beautiful lines of the A30, no spare parts, also because maintenance is 10 minutes per year and the manufacturer is passionate about his work. The cost was a little under $3K with the manufacturer doing the installation himself. We took the boat out for a trial run and I just couldn’t believe how simple it was to set up and control. When motoring I attach an ST1000 to this system and I have an electric autopilot steering by a set bearing. 

I want to commend the genius that invented the self-steering wind vane theory and would definitely recommend this particular system for any boat. There are rumors and stories out there of all sorts about self-steering systems. In the last two years I have been using Yves product and every time I had a problem, it was because I would not set the sails properly. If you are a coastal sailor who travels many hours I recommend this system, if you are a daysailor stick with the tiller. 

It looks like my sailing career will be a long one; I have accomplished 2,000 coastal cruising miles in two years from the Chesapeake to Nantucket.