[capta]

Can someone please explain why someone with an outboard rudder would spend the big bucks on a commercially manufactured wind vane, when a trim tab vane gear hung off the back of the rudder, will do the job cheaper, more reliably and more efficiently?
I keep seeing these very expensive wind vanes on the back of mostly tillered double enders and I am baffled.

 

[polaris2.11]

Dunno. We have a trim tab on our outboard rudder and a very simple horizontal axis vane to operate it. Trim tab can also be operated via tiller pilot with very low effort.

Works a treat.

 

[harmonic]

Maybe a shiny one looks cooler.Im with you cant see the point.Lots of extra weight as well.

 

[SVTatia]

Can someone please explain why someone with an outboard rudder would spend the big bucks on a commercially manufactured wind vane, when a trim tab vane gear hung off the back of the rudder, will do the job cheaper, more reliably and more efficiently?
I keep seeing these very expensive wind vanes on the back of mostly tillered double enders and I am baffled.

Interesting... I had the same curiosity.
I guess the answer is the lack of commercially available trim-tab ready windvanes out there. My previous boat had an outboard rudder and many years ago I found the only one sold at the time (Ratcliffe), now, not sure of any.
Some say its easy to devise your own, but it takes time and a lot of patience to design, configure, adjust, tweak, etc etc. until it's reliable and consistently works on all points of sail.

 

[capta]

Interesting... I had the same curiosity.
I guess the answer is the lack of commercially available trim-tab ready windvanes out there. My previous boat had an outboard rudder and many years ago I found the only one sold at the time (Ratcliffe), now, not sure of any.
Some say its easy to devise your own, but it takes time and a lot of patience to design, configure, adjust, tweak, etc etc. until it's reliable and consistently works on all points of sail.

The best one I've found, designed to be built by a lay person and extremely economically is in the Searunner Construction Manual, by Jim Brown. I believe it is available online for free.
Mine worked like a charm from 6 knots to 60, and possibly above, but at 60ish, I kinda thought it was my job to do the steering. Somehow, I just didn't trust a mindless machine in those conditions. The rest of the time, it was "Our father who sitteth on the stern and steerith night and day". One can always overpower a trim tab vane, so it can work to lighten the load in heavy weather, but can be over ridden when necessary without being disconnected.

 

[mad_machine]

Mike Anderson still makes the very simple system that they Padey's used. I like it because it is both simple and not very bulky looking. Most of the ones I see are huge affairs bolted to the sterns of what should good looking boats

Mike Anderson Boatworks | Just another WordPress site

 

[Ulladh]

Why reinvent the wheel. Autohelm upper unit push-pull cable can be connected to a trim tab on an existing outboard rudder, instead of their rudder shown here;

http://www.selfsteer.com

It is not cheap but depending on what value your time is may be a lot cheaper than experimenting and reinventing stuff.

 

[krisscross]

One of the best offshore boats of all time, Kaiser's Gale Force 34, has a factory installed rudder tab as part of the factory self steering setup. Shown here:
GALE FORCE 34 sailboat specifications and details on sailboatdata.com

 

[Minnesail]

One of the best offshore boats of all time, Kaiser's Gale Force 34, has a factory installed rudder tab as part of the factory self steering setup. Shown here:
GALE FORCE 34 sailboat specifications and details on sailboatdata.com

Damn, what's the story behind that boat?

Disp./Len.: 414.30

Wow!!!

 

[SVTatia]

Why reinvent the wheel. Autohelm upper unit push-pull cable can be connected to a trim tab on an existing outboard rudder, instead of their rudder shown here;

It is not cheap but depending on what value your time is may be a lot cheaper than experimenting and reinventing stuff.

I looked at the model, but a trim tab needs to be proportional to the rudder, at a certain location and distance from it. It is not one size fits all, so even if you buy the top components you still need some design, engineering and...

 

[SVTatia]

Mike Anderson still makes the very simple system that they Padey's used. I like it because it is both simple and not very bulky looking. Most of the ones I see are huge affairs bolted to the sterns of what should good looking boats

Mike Anderson Boatworks | Just another WordPress site

I was unable to get any information, the link to the Freehand System does not work.

 

[polaris2.11]

This is what we have (post #7). Very simple and effective.

 

[krisscross]

Damn, what's the story behind that boat?

Disp./Len.: 414.30

Wow!!!

I don't want to hijack the thread but John Kaiser's Gale Force 34 has been a boat I have been drooling over for about a decade now
It is perhaps the best designed and very well executed offshore sailboat that size I have run across. Unfortunately, there were only 30 built, and they tend to be outside my price range if they do appear on the market. The integral self steering system of that boat is supposedly a lot better then any separate wind vane (and a lot simpler too).