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Windvane self-steering |
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OlKeat
Newbie Joined: 03 Dec 19 Location: Europe Online Status: Offline Posts: 4 |
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Topic: Windvane self-steering Posted: 25 Dec 19 at 1:41pm |
Hello
everyone, happy holiday! What can you say about the windvane self-steering,
based on the experience of use, which is better: auxiliary rudder or
servo-pendulum? |
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snowleopard
Groupie Joined: 02 Oct 17 Location: Cornwall Online Status: Offline Posts: 66 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 20 at 8:57am |
The biggest factor is the configuration of the boat. For example a Folkboat can be steered with a trim-tab on the rudder but most modern boats don't have a transom-hung rudder. Pendulum-servo gears work best with tiller steering. I had one on a wheel-steered boat and the length of the linkage made it a bit sloppy.
My latest boat was equipped with an electronic autopilot which operated via a hydraulic pump. I sailed 20,000 miles with that arrangement and it never let me down, plus I could select a waypoint on the GPS, press 'Track' and know I would follow a line on the chart to within 50 metres. Personally I'd never go back to wind-and-string solutions.
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One hull good, two hulls better.
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OlKeat
Newbie Joined: 03 Dec 19 Location: Europe Online Status: Offline Posts: 4 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 23 Apr 20 at 11:39am |
I studied in more detail the features of their work, and I came to the same conclusion, it is better to put an electronic one and not have unnecessary trouble :) Thank you, your review finally convinced me of this.
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snowleopard
Groupie Joined: 02 Oct 17 Location: Cornwall Online Status: Offline Posts: 66 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 05 May 20 at 5:01pm |
Having said that. If an electronic autopilot fails, you have a serious problem. We met a couple in Bermuda who had had steered from Antigua when theirs failed. After various failed attempts to get it fixed, they recruited a couple of extra crew to get them back to Europe.
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One hull good, two hulls better.
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OlKeat
Newbie Joined: 03 Dec 19 Location: Europe Online Status: Offline Posts: 4 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 06 May 20 at 7:42am |
Instructive story. It should take into account their experience
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Sam.Spoons
Really should get out more Joined: 07 Mar 12 Location: Manchester UK Online Status: Offline Posts: 3398 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 06 May 20 at 9:37am |
How repairable is a wind vane steering rig by an average cruising sailor on the open sea miles from civilisation? Not very I'd hazard*. If we follow that logic we'd only cruise in 'Spray' replicas
* Admittedly more repairable than an electronic system but......
Edited by Sam.Spoons - 06 May 20 at 9:37am |
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Spice 346 "Flat Broke"
Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
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ifoxwell
Really should get out more Joined: 05 Jan 06 Location: Hoo Online Status: Offline Posts: 669 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 07 May 20 at 12:57pm |
I think there is a place for both. An electronic solution has a lot of obvious benefits and for the kind of sailing I do is the only one that makes sense, however if I was sailing any distance then having a system that didn't consume any power would be very appealing
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RS300
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PeterG
Really should get out more Joined: 12 Jan 08 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 818 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 07 May 20 at 1:01pm |
Not a cheap option, but belts and braces have some appeal for long distance sailing!
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Peter
Ex Cont 707 Ex Laser 189635 DY 59 |
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