wind vane steering for catamaran

Steering the dream

Hydrovane is your best crew member: an independent self-steering windvane and emergency rudder/steering system... ready to go!

Hydrovane will fit any cruising boat!

Off-center installations are the norm!

Doubles as Emergency Rudder/Steering!

True Stories

Golden Globe Update Day 113:

[GGR Leader Jean-Luc Van Den Heede sailing the Rustler 36 Matmut] was full of praise for his Hydrovane self-steering. “In a gale it has a big advantage because it is not steering the boat’s rudder, but has its own. This little rudder is far more efficient than the big rudder.”

– Jean Luc Van Den Heede on satellite phone call

“I am happy I did install the Hydrovane, especially that I saw on YouTube that at the same time 2 sailboats almost the same size as mine with the same problem. The crew had to abandon the the ships and left both boats in the middle of the Atlantic and lost everything … again thanks to the Hydrovane. It saved my boat.”

– Jacques Glaser, Amel Mango 52

“My wife and I have just completed a two month cruise with our new Hydrovane and it has performed beyond all expectations… If cruising I wouldn’t go to sea without one: strong, simple, reliable, an emergency helm and an extra crew member who never complains and doesn’t need a watch system.”

– Pete Goss, MBE, Frances 34

“So, I must tell you, and I mean this sincerely, the Hydrovane is simply a game changer for Quetzal. It’s just great and performs better than I expected… One other feature of the vane that I really appreciate is that it eases the load on the rudder and rudder bearings.”

– John Krestchmaer, Kaufman 47

“With just two of us on board, I wanted a system that was simple and effective to operate, and it has exceeded my most optimistic expectations by a considerable margin. It truly is our third crew member.”

– John Mennem, Jeanneau 45.2

“…it is still the most technically elegant solution i have ever seen for a wind vane… I was clawing off a lee shore on one side, and islands on another – winds were reported at 55 knots, and waves in the region were at least ‘boat length’ high and quite steep with the currents. This was an awful night and I was very afraid for myself, the boat and my equipment – I had new found respect, trust and comfort in the Hydrovane after that.”

– Steve De Maio, Contessa 26

In this recent Pacific crossing, the Hydrovane kept us on course (relative to the wind, of course) for several days at a time, requiring no tweaking or attention at all. If you can balance your boat and twist a dial, you can successfully operate a Hydrovane. Don’t leave home without one!

– Bill Ennis, Passport 40

“For the first time, we had to run downwind, under bare poles in gale force 8 conditions, with gusts to 50 knots – and don’t get me started on the sea conditions! Have you ever swallowed your tongue? Oh, and iVane, our wind-steering partner. What a gem! It steered 230 hard miles without even nut rations.”

– Brian Anderson, Hallberg Rassy 40

“The additional cash to purchase a windvane was almost too much… Just how good is this ‘Hydrovane’ anyway?”

After 29,000+ miles: “We’ve said to each many times that without doubt the most valuable piece of equipment on board was Casper – best purchase EVER. I will never own an offshore boat again that does not have this device.”

– Ryan Robertson, T 40

Swim Step / Sugar Scoop

External rudder, watt&sea bracket, other products.

Watt&Sea Hydrogenerator

Echo Tec Watermaker

Happy Halloween! This costume may have been for a different occasion but relevant nonetheless! 👻 “After seeing what Taurus [the Hydrovane] does for us [my friend] fell in love with him too. So much so that when the crew dressed up for the equator crossing, she dressed up as a Hydrovane!” - Norlin 37 owner 🙌🙌 ... See More See Less

• Comments: 2

2 Comments Comment on Facebook

Hi, can u reach me up via WhatsApp? My phone number is +56999728041 Txs

How times change just thought I’d send you this video that somebody sent me that bought a Hydrovane ❤️x

Well that was a fun night. 🎉 Thanks @cruisersawards Young Cruisers' Association for bringing together so many inspirational sailors and story tellers! Get out there and chase the wind ⛵️ #cruiserawards #youngcruisers #internationalcruiserawards #seapeople #annapolis #usboatshow #hydrovane ... See More See Less

• Comments: 0

0 Comments Comment on Facebook

#repost from @kirstenggr ⛵️ “Thinking back on the sailing, and missing it! Thanks to @ hydrovane for having serviced Minnehaha's hydrovane , which did about 45 000 nm before having any major overhaul - possibly more than any hydrovane has ever done before without a significant service. It saw Kirsten and Minnehaha all the way through the GGR and over the finish line! The unit is as good as new again, and it was smooth sailing all the way down to Madeira! Also, a big thanks to Eddie Arsenault, for having built such a solid mounting bracket for the hydrovane ! Without Eddie, Minnehaha would just not be the strong boat that she is today!” ... See More See Less

Wow, absolutely so proud my fathers invention and so glad everybody is so still going strong with this after so many years!! It is so lovely to see !❤️

Any photos of the mount Eddie made?

Thank you Kirsten Neuschäfer ! You are an inspiration. The Hydrovane loves sailing as much as you do 😀 Kudos to Eddie for the rock solid install! Thinking back on the sailing, and missing it! Thanks to Hydrovane International Marine for having serviced Minnehaha's hydrovane, which did about 45 000 nm before having any major overhaul - possibly more than any hydrovane has ever done before without a significant service. It saw Kirsten and Minnehaha all the way through the GGR and over the finish line! The unit is as good as new again, and it was smooth sailing all the way down to Madeira! Also, a big thanks to Eddie Arsenault, for having built such a solid mounting bracket for the hydrovane! Without Eddie, Minnehaha would just not be the strong boat that she is today! ... See More See Less

Hydrovane is my most trusted crewman.

Lee Colledge Shaun Colledge see what you have built 💪 👌

Once upon a time under spinnaker between Niue and Tonga 😍 ... See More See Less

This week we sailed from Lemvig Denmark to Vlieland Netherlands. 270nm and a tough journey for us and without the Hydrovane it really wouldn't have been possible for us. It gives us peace of mind while sailing and can no longer do without it. Boat is a Barbican 33.

Wow absolutely lovely,my Father would be absolutely so proud ❤️

Hebridean self-steering wind vane

“well worth investigating”

TOM CUNLIFFE The Complete Ocean Skipper

“I’m impressed… the vane performed well on all points of sail, including downwind… the servo pendulum system took control to the extent that it could sail a course with the sails badly set” DAVID PUGH Editor, Practical Boat Owner

Build your own servo-pendulum wind vane from a kit

The Hebridean wind vane is an innovative version of the tried and tested servo-pendulum self steering system for sailing boats steered by tiller or wheel. The Hebridean  has crossed Atlantic and Pacific oceans but is also quick and easy to mount for weekend coastal sailing or jaunts across the Channel, Minch or other strait/sea.

Stern freeboard The kit fits yachts with stern freeboards from 600-1000mm (stationary). It is designed specifically for DIY construction. The Hebridean can be tilted up out of the water or lifted off the stern and stored on the guard wires. Or partially dismantled for storage below.

Horizontal vane axle The Hebridean is the only serv0-pendulum vane with an actual horizontal vane axle. One of its unique design features allowing boosted performance, simplified construction and enhanced efficiency in all conditions. John Fleming’s analytical genius was responsible for the innovative geometry on which this landmark development in servo-pendulum windvane design depends.

Simplicity For confidence at sea or in remote locations, the simplicity of its components and assembly crucially allows the unit to be maintained with tools usually found onboard. Building the Hebridean yourself is a hands-on “course” providing you not only with a good understanding of its workings, but also substantial confidence in your ability to maintain it anywhere.

Wood When sourcing your own wood you need 4m of suitable hardwood at 145 x 20mm (EU standard). The longest plank is 1800mm to make the pendulum/paddle for 1000mm height transoms. Here is the wood cutting plan .

Affordable The Hebridean offers DIY sailors the opportunity to build an affordable wind vane in wood and stainless steel, with no welding, bearings or plastic cogs in the main H2 Kit. (there is one worm and wheel in the optional Remote Course Adjustment Kit which can be viewed in action in this youtube video ). All the metal components are prefabricated (drilling and some surface finishing required) ready for you to bolt to the wooden frame. The build requires basic wood-work skills and tools. And several days of absorbing and highly rewarding work.

Wheel steering too A “drum” kit for connecting the Hebridean to wheel steering is available.

Shipping For shipping costs, please contact me at the email address below with your full name, delivery address and phone number (required by carrier) for a quotation.

Kit prices Prices are listed on our Prices & Ordering page.

A section by section video from Hebridean builder, Ian French Thank you Ian!

• Part 1 Intro and frame: Intro & Frame
• Part 2 Turret and Vane : Turret & Vane
• Part 3 Fixtures and fittings : Fixtures & Fittings
• Part 4 Servo Rudder: Servo Rudder
• Part 5 Boat mounting: Boat Mounting
• Part 6 Testing the wind vane: Testing the Wind Vane
• Part 7 Wind vane in action
• Part 8 See the remote steering mechanism being assembled . The single weld required in Part 8 is completed by us before kit dispatch.
• Part 9 Preparing Remote Control Lines

See the Hebridean in action

• Videos shot in Scotland in varying sea and wind conditions Scotland Sea Trials
• Trials over 8 years of coastal and off-shore sailing by John Fleming, the designer of the Hebridean Wind Vane The Hebridean in action.
• Emmanuel sailing on Lake Geneva with Mont Blanc in the background Wind Vane in action on Lake Geneva
• Mounted on the 45 degree rudder stock of a Twister off the Scilly Isles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNlZHFFseB0
• Finnish archipelago Sailing https://photos.app.goo.gl/hYWTEcJhbdX3WGe39
• Wheel steering , all beautifully finished, on Al Hanson’s Pearson 31-2. Al’s video also features his removable Hebridean mounting solution attached to his folding transom boarding ladder.
• 1912 Falmouth Quay Punt Plymouth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6BIxYQUPiM
• Wind vane and dolphins off Fair Isle https://vimeo.com/136486631
• Courtesy Tom Fisher on “Angus” The Hebridean Wind Vane in action in strong winds 25/5/17 Bermuda to Azores https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po-oXzVaIAk
• Kristian Møller Pedersen’s first day out with the Hebridean on trial after having completing the wind vane also see testimonials page   https://youtu.be/d2fjzbkh0dU
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg7JgwH6Y58
• https://youtu.be/1090Z-dK2Ys
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjAUfm-i6Yw
• Hebridean mounted on top of rudder stock on a canoe stern sailing off Canary Islands Hebridean in use in Canary Islands
• An afternoon sail in 10 to 15 knots on Port Phillip Bay watch-v=QBx0ywAjMCA&feature=youtu.be
• Video of the “drum” kit watch-v=4KLWJbYYOF0&feature=youtu.be

Frequently Asked Questions

John Fleming  1951 – 2023 teacher   yachtsman   inventor   thinker  

Here is a 10 minute video tribute to the Hebridean’s designer, John Fleming. It was aired at his life celebration in The Tip i at his family home, The Dell, Nethy Bridge, 19 April 2023. https://www.sgmarkphotography.com/Client-Area/John-Fleming  Use password sleepyeagle (the name of John’s Pioneer 10).

Notice from Ian Kirkwood

When John’s health got worse, he asked me again to take on the project. I am an enthusiastic fan of his highly ingenious version of the servo-pendulum self steering-system. I sailed in company with John on and off for a decade — using my own Hebridean (I was his first customer in 2013).

Our Hebrideans steered us around Scotland’s northwest coast and isles. We made three trips in company to the Faroe Islands. On the first of these I sailed happily solo. All thanks to the Hebridean. Dying winds foiled an attempt to reach Iceland: our boats lay calmly hove-to overnight a few miles off the Butt of Lewis. Plan B proved to be a fabulous voyage down the length of the Atlantic coast of the Outer Hebrides. A highlight was anchoring off Callanish in blazing sun.

I hope to continue John’s personal style of service. Please allow a generous lead time as I get used to stocking the components and preparing Hebridean kits while maintaining their high quality…and a reasonable kit price in times of rising costs.

Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

Windvane steering: why it makes sense for coastal cruising

• Will Bruton
• October 15, 2018

No electricity needed, built for gale-force conditions and currently experiencing 
something of a renaissance amongst 
cruisers; windvane self-steering makes sense for coastal cruisers as much as 
offshore voyagers. Will Bruton took 
an in depth look at the options 
and how they work.

‘The distance run was 2,700 miles as the crow flies. During those 23 days I had not spent more than three hours at the helm. I just lashed the helm and let her go; whether the wind was abeam or dead aft, it was all the same: she always stayed on her course,’ wrote Joshua Slocum in 1895.

The ability of his long-keeled Spray to hold course without input from the helm was instrumental 
in making her the first yacht to circumnavigate single-handed.

Few modern boats bear these inherently balanced characteristics, so some form of autopilot is necessary to allow the skipper to rest.

Even for crewed passages, it can take an enormous strain off the crew without draining the battery. Some insurance companies even count windvane steering as an additional crew member, such is its contribution to life on board.

Unlike an electronic autopilot, self-steering needs no power

One solution experiencing something of a renaissance, is windvane self-steering.

Requiring no electricity, mechanical self-steering gear was first designed in an age when autopilots were the preserve of large ships and heavy motor cruisers. The principle is relatively simple and pure physics.

What mechanical self-steering cannot do is hold your yacht on a compass course. However, as anyone that’s experienced a sudden wind shift or squall whilst away from the helm knows, steering to a wind angle is preferable most of the time as you are far less likely to crash gybe, and the sails remain correctly set.

Self-steering gear achieves this by presenting a vane directly into the wind. When the wind acts on either side of this vane, it tips, transferring this action through the mechanism below to either a rudder or a servo pendulum which acts on the main rudder, altering the boat’s course.

The two main systems

Servo-pendulum

A derivative of the servo-trim tab principle invented by Blondie Hasler, servo-pendulum self steering gear uses the speed of the yacht going through the water to push against the servo-paddle, creating a substantial force, which is then transferred to the yacht’s own tiller or wheel by control lines.

The wind itself does not provide the power for the steering; rather it adjusts the angle of the paddle, relying on the hydro-mechanical energy of the boat going through the water to do the work of steering the boat.

Popular before the advent of the small craft electronic autopilot, it’s particularly well suited to yachts under 40ft in length, and can be swung out of the water when not in use.

There are now several derivatives, including some available as a self-build kit. Amongst the Golden Globe Race entrants, models included Aries, Monitor, Windpilot and Beaufort systems.

One disadvantage of the servo-pendulum gear is that it uses the yacht’s rudder, meaning it does not double up as an emergency rudder should the yacht’s steering be disabled, although some servo-pendulums can be adapted.

Direct drive systems

Wind vane steering linked to a secondary rudder is the most inherently simple of the mechanical self-steering systems, but relies on a much more powerful transmission of force between a large-surface-area wind vane and the system’s own independent rudder.

Direct drive systems feature a large fully independent auxiliary rudder

This has the advantage of ensuring 
a back up steering method is already on board but also requires a heavy-duty installation to bear the load and strain that will be exerted.

One of the most popular models is the Hydrovane, which is now available in several different sizes and shapes depending on 
the boat it is being installed on.

The size 
and shape of the fabric-covered windvane is directly proportional to the size of yacht, and has been installed successfully on yachts in excess of 50ft in length, including multihulls.

When the boat veers off course, the 
wind hits the vane on one side or the other, deflecting it away from the vertical.

This then acts on a gear that converts 
this sideways movement into rotation to directly steer a relatively large rudder suspended from the boat’s transom via 
the installation framework.

Setting up windvane steering

Balancing the boat.

‘Before doing anything, you have to get the boat sailing well. It demands you take the time to get your boat properly balanced, correctly reefed and with no weather helms; so it actually makes you a better sailor!’ explains Nick Nottingham, who recently fitted a Hydrovane to his Hallberg-Rassy 42, Spellbinder . Nick is about to use the system on an Atlantic circuit.

Self-steering relies on a well balanced boat. As the wind shifts, the mechanism corrects

Self-steering gear works by adjusting the yacht’s course in relation to the apparent wind. The first step to making this work as efficiently as possible is to balance the boat and reduce the amount of input required.

Sailing conventionally, the yacht should be easy on the helm and not overpowered.

Setting the system for the conditions

Whether servo-pendulum or direct drive, most self-steering systems have one or more methods of adjustment for the conditions. In light airs, the wind vane will be exposed as much as possible to the wind, to exert the maximum force on the system, whereas in heavier weather, the vane’s height can be lowered, reducing the force acting on the system.

Some systems, like the Hydrovane, Monitor and Beaufort have different sized vanes that can be swapped, while the Windpilot and Aries allow the vane to be raked aft, presenting a shorter level.

With the wind vane attached, you are ready to remove the locking pin and engage the steering mechanism

On some set ups, the power exerted on the steering system can also be adjusted at the point where the wind vane meets its pivot, just like changing sensitivity on an electronic autopilot. By controlling the rotation of the rudder or paddle created by the windvane, you control how aggressively the system corrects the boat’s course.

Changing the gearing at the point where the wind input creates the steering output achieve an increase or decrease of ratio.

Engaging the system

To engage the system, set the yacht on course and adjust the wind vane so that the wind is flowing over it with the least resistance, like a blade.

If you a using a system with its own rudder, centralise and lock the yacht’s main rudder, simultaneously engaging the self-steering mechanism.

Once engaged, monitor how the system adjusts and double check your sails are trimmed correctly.

As the vane moves it will adjust the steering accordingly.

In heavy weather, reduce the system’s power to ensure the least amount of strain.

Self-steering systems work efficiently in strong winds but most will steer comfortably in light airs as well.

Course adjustments

When the wind vane is vertical, you are on course. When the vane is deflected, the system is adjusting course.

Changing the direction you want to go in is simply a matter of altering the self-steering system’s vane angle relative to the wind.

On most systems this is achieved by a steering line that can be run into the safety of the cockpit, meaning you do not necessarily need to adjust the vane itself directly.

Make small adjustments until the yacht comes onto the desired course, trimming the sails appropriately.

A standalone system?

Whilst self-steering systems offer a much more resilient option than an electronic autopilot for heavy weather, when there is no sailing wind, they cease to be useful.

Here an electronic tillerpilot has been plugged directly into the Hydrovane auxiliary rudder

For this reason, most cruisers also have a conventional electronic autopilot on board to steer under engine.

In the case of systems incorporating a rudder, many also make it possible to easily engage a tiller pilot onto the system’s auxiliary rudder for use under engine.

Self-steering on the Golden Globe Race

If there’s one place that mechanical 
self-steering fandom bordered on the evangelical this year, it was at the start of 
the Golden Globe Race .

50 years previously, Robin Knox-Johnston’s world first single-handed circumnavigation was steered by his own self-steering gear system until it failed 
near Australia.

Restored to her former glory, 
Knox-Johnston’s Suhaili joined the parade; along with Indian competitor Abhilash Tommy’s replica yacht Thuriya , which sports a commercially made Windpilot servo-pendulum system.

Self-steering gear on Suhaili. Credit: Nic Compton/Alamy Stock Photo

With this year’s revival competition using 1960’s technology and electronic wizardry strictly prohibited, mechanical self-steering systems are effectively the only option for competitors. Each has chosen carefully.

Competitors in the race are using a variety of systems including Hydrovane, Aries, Monitor, Windpilot and Beaufort.

Due to the nature of the boats competing being long keeled, they are ideally suited to mechanical self-steering, naturally holding course better than a modern hull. However, should systems fail and prove unrepairable, it will be hard 
for them to remain competitive in the race.

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Build Your Own Self-Steering Windvane

For the short-handed sailor planning long ocean crossings, a self-steering windvane is not essential but darn close to it. For boats with stern-hung rudders, a self-steering windvane can be constructed with readily available materials and a modest level of skill.

It’s all about leverage. There will be an air paddle which will weathercock to the wind and provide enough torque to move the trim tab which we are going to mount on the trailing edge of the rudder. The trim tab will be a slender, high aspect ratio blade, and we will add some “balance” to it–a little bit of the blade will lead the shaft–all so as to lessen the torque required to move the trim tab when the water is flowing over it and thus increase the amount of leverage the air paddle has over it.

Let’s start with building the trim tab. The trim tab should be somewhere around 10 to 15 percent of the area of the rudder. We decide on the correct diameter of shaft for the blade. In my case this was a 5/8″ diameter stainless steel shaft. We then drill several (say four) holes to take through-bolts which will hold the wooden blade to the shaft. Below is the rough blade held to the shaft with 1/4-20 bolts. Notice the thinner piece on the leading edge, this will give it some balance.

We then permanently attach the blade with the bolts and 3M 5200 and begin fairing:

Following fairing and shaping we will then encase the entire blade in fiberglass roving and epoxy, this will add a great deal of strength and durability.

Now we have to mount it on the end of the rudder. But before we start drilling any holes, we need to work out some geometry. The trim tab must be mounted such that the air paddle will attach at the “no action point”; that is, where the trim tab shaft intersects the axis of rotation of the rudder. This is important because if the air paddle is not attached at this point, the turning of the rudder will wag the air paddle back and forth resulting in poor performance. Hopefully the diagram below will make this clear:

For the gudgeons on the rudder I used 1″ thick pieces of ash which I cut like opened jaws to slide onto the trailing edge of the rudder. They were finally attached with through-bolts and plenty of 3M 5200. For the bottom gudgeon I drilled a slightly oversized hole for the shaft to drop down through. On the inside of the hole I put a few laminates of epoxy and fiberglass roving to minimize friction and make it snug (note: I’ve since inserted a nylon bushing, which works better).

Similarly for the upper gudgeon EXCEPT that I opened the hole to the outboard end so that it formed a “U” and then closed it with a small U-shaped piece of plywood bolted on top and facing inboard (see pics below). Why? So that the trim tab can be removed for servicing.

And finally there is a third gudgeon at the rudder head, which is simply screwed onto a wooden cleat mounted there, again so that it can be easily removed.

Now we have come to the issue of attaching the air paddle. First of all, the air paddle needs to be balanced. This means the axis where the trim tab shaft runs through it is also the center of mass, or if the shaft was held horizontally and the air paddle free to rotate it would not choose to do so absent any wind. Since the plywood air paddle has weight, this will require a counterweight for which I used a regular shaft zinc clamped to a wooden dowel.

With our air paddle and counterweight constructed the last remaining item is the engaging mechanism. I opted for the simplest possible, simply boring a hole up a rectangular piece of timber for the shaft to pass through, and then sawing about halfway up from the bottom (see above photo). The air paddle and counterweight are bolted at the top, while at the bottom, on either side of the bored shaft hole, are 1/4-20 bolts with big handles on them. The opposing nuts are set in epoxy. Thus the air paddle can freely turn on the shaft until I tighten the bolts, when it clamps onto the shaft and the windvane is thus engaged.

And that’s it.   So far this vane has steered me over 30,000 miles.  I can get it to work in winds down in the 3-6 knot range, and then it has steered the boat while running before a gale under bare poles.   In order to work well in light airs the gudgeons must be greased from time to time.  This can easily be accomplished in the water while donning a mask and snorkle.   Just lift the trim tab up a few inches (it cannot actually pop out of the bottom gudgeon before the blade runs up against the upper gudgeon–with the little plywood cap on, of course), clean, grease, and set back down. 

Now one peccadillo I have found with this type of steering vane is the tendency to over-steer. It tends to shove the helm too fast and too far on either side, causing the boat to sail a slalom course. One cure for this is to attach shock cords to your tiller lashings which will greatly dampen the effect. The size and setup of the shock cords will vary from boat to boat. Here is my current setup shown below:

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Yacht Cruising Lifestyle

Everything fun you can do from your yacht

Why You Need a Wind Vane for Your Sailboat

September 24, 2021 by Travis Turgeon 1 Comment

Many of today’s offshore cruising sailboats utilize a type of autopilot equipment called a windvane. A sailboat wind vane is a mechanical self-steering system that requires no electricity, fuel, or manpower to operate. It’s the perfect addition to bluewater cruisers and offshore sailboats. While a mechanical self-steering wind vane can’t hold you on a compass course, they’re more accurate than human steering over long distances. By reducing the overall mileage of a passage, you’re able to save time and money on your journey. Alternatively, a windvane is essential for short-handed or single-handed sailing. It gives the skipper a much-needed break from the helm when conditions allow.

How Does a Wind Vane Work on a Sailboat?

Mechanical wind vane systems are relatively simple in concept. Once mounted at the boat’s transom or somewhere along the stern, wind prompts the elevated vane to adjust the rudder or wheel steering system, putting your sailboat back on a wind-based course dictated by the captain. The idea is that you won’t have to make constant adjustments in variable winds. Automatic adjustments reduce boat heeling and allow your vessel to remain trim in the water. 

In other words, wind vanes use wind and water resistance to return a ship to course when wind chages direction.

Sailboat Windvane Gears Vs. Electronic Autopilot Systems

Two primary self-steering systems are standard for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailboats: wind vane steering gears and electronic autopilot systems. Both systems have advantages, and many sailors choose to install both systems on their boats. 

Electronic Autopilot Systems 

Electronic autopilot systems are the modern answer to self-steering. They’re easy to use, work without wind, and are an excellent option for near-shore cruising and short-term offshore sailing. Autopilots are also compatible with multi-hull vessels, unlike windvane systems. 

The downfalls to these systems can be daunting, though. Electronic systems are complex and have numerous parts: displays, wiring, plotters, motors – the list goes on. To run an electric autopilot system, you’ll also need a generator. Most even have two generators, using one as a backup for reliability. As you’d expect, they also come with a higher price tag. 

Self-Steering Wind Vane Systems

Windvane steering systems take a more traditional approach to self-steering. They rely on the wind to operate your boat on the desired course. Wind vane steering systems require no electricity, little maintenance, have few moving parts. They also come in several variations to fit your boat in the best way possible. Another massive benefit of a mechanical sailboat windvane is its robust build. This allows reliable and powerful performance in heavy weather conditions. 

There are also several downfalls to a windvane system. They do not work in the absence of wind or under power, can add weight and stress to the boat stern, can be initially expensive to purchase, and won’t work on multi-hull vessels. 

Types of Sailboat Wind Vane Systems

All wind vane systems direct a boat to a wind-based course, but they each do it differently. 

Servo-Pendulum Wind Vane 

Servo-pendulum windvane systems are the most common commercially available system, and they are a favorite among most sailors. The reliability for offshore sailing is a huge selling point. It re-affirms why these are the “classic” wind-driven autopilot systems. 

Main steering servo-pendulum systems have control lines running from the primary steering quadrant to a wheel or tiller. As the wind pushes the pendulum, it directs the boat’s steering by way of the primary rudder. Because of this, the system is solely dependent on the power of the wind. The stronger the wind blows, the more force the system provides to push the boat back on the desired course. 

Rudder steering servo-pendulum systems have the pendulum rudder connected to the primary boat rudder. It works almost the same as the “main steering system,” with a few minor differences. The wind pushes the pendulum rudder to the side, forcing water to pull the boat’s main rudder to change steering. The advantage of this system over the prior is that it involves fewer mechanical components, making it easier to check issues and fix any problems. The disadvantage is that it can be a bit trickier to set.

One of the biggest downfalls of either servo-pendulum system is that the pendulum rudder can not replace an auxiliary rudder. Unlike an auxiliary rudder, its one-dimensional operation makes it unable to run the system if the primary rudder fails. These systems can also create a cluttered cockpit due to the lines running from the steering quadrant. Lastly, servo-pendulum systems generally require more consistent maintenance and more common repairs. 

Auxiliary-Rudder Wind Vane

Unlike servo-pendulum steering systems, auxiliary-rudder wind vanes are entirely independent of all other aspects of the boat. Instead, the main rudder is locked, and the auxiliary rudder steers the vessel after setting a powerful windvane to the desired angle. The main rudder is often locked to the left of center or slightly at an angle to balance the helm. One of the most significant advantages to these systems is that if the primary boat rudder fails, the auxiliary rudder can act as a replacement to steer the boat. 

There are some important considerations to make when purchasing auxiliary-rudder wind vane steering gear. First, auxiliary-rudder windvanes put a significant amount of stress on the vane, making it vital that the model and components are well designed and made of quality materials. If you can source well-made parts, there is minimal risk while out at sea. There are very few moving parts and no critical lines attached to the system. Second, these systems are big, heavy, and bulky. Having such a massive piece of equipment at the stern of the boat isn’t always ideal in every scenario. Lastly, auxiliary rudders can be awkward to operate when the mizzen is in use on ketch-rigged vessels.

Trim-Tab Wind Vane

Trim-tab windvanes are less common than they used to be after the emergence of the steering technologies listed above. The system works by attaching a “tab” to the main rudder. The small surface of the trim tab makes it easy for the wind to move it from side to side, which then forces water over the primary rudder in the opposite direction to keep the boat on course. Those with the appropriate skills and know-how can even construct a trim-tab themselves, although we recommend that they do not rely entirely on a self-made system. 

The major drawback to trim-tabs is that the ability to fine-tune the system is somewhat limited in heavy conditions. 

How to Install a Sailboat Wind Vane System

Installing a wind vane on your boat is relatively easy, but it still takes a bit of planning. 

Initial Considerations

All windvane models require installation at the center of the boat’s transom or as close to the center as possible. Depending on which system you choose to run, you may need to account for the steering lines that operate the system. Steering lines are approximately a quarter of an inch in diameter and need a clear path from the wind vane to the boat wheel. You may redirect the lines with steering blocks, but be aware that each block adds friction and lessens the overall efficiency of the steering system. 

Balancing the Boat

Windvane gears adjust the course of a boat using the wind force at the surface. For this to happen efficiently, you’ll first need to ensure your boat is balanced and sailing as intended. Take your time to get the weight distributed evenly. You’ll also need to reef the sails appropriately so as not to be overpowered. 

Adjusting the System for the Conditions

Regardless of the system, nearly all sailboat wind vanes have one or more adjustment features so that you can optimize performance in various conditions. When wind conditions are relatively light, you should expose the vane as much as possible so that the system receives the most force as possible. In heavy winds, however, you can lower the windvane to reduce the impact on the system. In some cases, the wind vanes have sensitivity adjustments where the vane meets the pivot, so you may not need to adjust the height as weather conditions change. 

How to Engage a Sailboat Wind Vane System

Most wind vanes are relatively adaptable and can adjust to fit a variety of hull types. Some vanes are even customizable to bolt directly onto the boat. As with any other object you bolt to your hull, plan to through-bolt everything with the appropriate bedding and backplates for maximum security.

Operating a sailboat wind vane is far less complicated than you might expect. There are four standard steps to engaging a windvane:

• Deploy the Gear : To do this, attach the wind paddle and unfold the rudder to be placed in the water. Doing this should only take a few minutes at most. 
• Connect the Control Lines : Control lines run from the windvane to the boat wheel and may have steering blocks included in the setup. The system may require you to make a few knots or use some hardware, but again, it’s a relatively easy process once you’ve completed it once or twice. 
• Balance the Boat and Set a Course : With the wind vane deployed, balance your boat, set the course to the desired point of sail, and adjust the windvane to engage the steering. 
• Evaluate the Course and Adjust as Needed : Adjust the vane to steer more accurately after evaluating your approach. Course adjustments are made by rotating and trimming the paddle to match your course.

Perfectly balancing your boat is one of the easiest ways to make your self-steering wind vane more efficient in the water. A vessel with poor balance or trim will not just sail inefficiently, but it will put unneeded stress on the wind vane system.

Have more questions about sailboat windvane systems and how you can best implement them on your boat?  Reach out to the #Boatlife community on our forum  with questions or comments!

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June 12, 2022 at 5:44 pm

Thanks for the useful information. However, you didn’t mention anything about the usefulness of wind vanes in light or downwind sailing. You mentioned the issue of a mizzen and auxiliary rudder, how do I understand that (as we sail a ketch and thinking about installing a Hydrovane.

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Sorting Out Self-Steering Options

• By Darrell Nicholson
• Updated: December 6, 2001

It seems unfair to regard the self-steering windvane—a device that we often view as another member of our crew—as merely a collection of metal, space-age plastics, and cloth or wood. But for anyone considering buying a windvane, such details merit a closer look.This month, we’ll compare the design and construction of some of the most popular servo-pendulum models on the market today. In a second installment next month, we’ll review alternative windvane designs, including trim-tab and auxiliary-rudder systems.

Servo-pendulum vanes can be broken down into three main components: the sensor vane, the pendulum rudder, and the linkages. The sensor vane is the brains of the self-steering system, but it needs apparent wind to work. Downwind sailing in light air—when apparent wind may be only a whisper—is one of the biggest challenges for a windvane steering system.

Sensor vanes are of two types: horizontal axis or vertical axis. The latter respond like the weathercock on a barn roof, rotating so that the leading edge of the vane always faces the wind. All of the self-steering devices we’ll look at have the more powerful horizontal-axis vanes. The helmsman turns the vane’s leading edge into the apparent wind once the sails are trimmed and the boat is balanced on the desired course. When the boat veers off course (or the apparent wind shifts), the wind strikes the flat side of the vane, tilting the vane on its horizontal axis and triggering the forces that steer your boat back on track.

Although called horizontal-axis vanes, the axes of the vanes we’ll look at are actually angled about 20 degrees from horizontal, away from the wind. This slight angle brings air flow to the lee side of the vane as it tilts, effectively damping the vane’s motion, reducing yaw, and permitting a more accurate steering impulse.

A sensor vane will have a counterweight to ensure proper balance, which becomes more critical in light airs, when the boat’s roll can cause the vane sensor to tilt on its own.

Another essential part of the sensor vane is the set of control lines, or knob, that allow you to adjust its position when you’re setting a new course relative to the wind. You should be able to do this quickly and easily from a safe position in your cockpit, preferably one protected from the weather.

A critical feature to look for in the vane is sensitivity. Any friction at the vane’s axis will inhibit performance in light airs. Many manufacturers supply smaller, heavy-weather vanes or larger, light-air vanes to improve performance in those conditions. You should be able to quickly change or replace the vane without using tools or worrying about losing a thumbscrew overboard. Vanes are generally lightweight and fragile under impact, so carry spares. On some models, you can make replacement vanes from plywood or cloth.

A final consideration is space. Radar arches, davits, or other accessories on your stern shouldn’t restrict the sensor vane’s movement or block airflow.

Power Stroke

Beneath the water, servo-pendulum windvanes rely on pendulum rudders (also called servo-rudders) to provide the muscle for course corrections. When a change in apparent wind tilts the sensor vane, it tells the servo-rudder to turn. Because the servo-rudder is suspended like a pendulum above the water, when it turns, hydrodynamic forces cause it to swing outboard. The substantial force generated by the swinging pendulum rudder is then transmitted to the wheel or tiller. Slowly rotate the broad face of a dinghy oar toward a 4-knot flow of water and you’ll have an idea of the power a pendulum rudder can generate.

Just as the vane requires apparent wind, the pendulum rudder relies on the boat’s motion through the water to do its job. Most manufacturers say that you’ll need at least 2 to 2.5 knots to generate the power needed for steering, although point of sail, sea conditions, and boat’s characteristics will affect this. The faster your boat moves, the more powerful the force that the servo-rudder delivers.

A good servo-pendulum rudder will be semibalanced and have a hydrodynamic profile so that it’s sensitive to the slightest impulse from the sensor vane. Minimizing friction is essential, particularly any friction on the servo-rudder’s main shaft, which the relatively weak impulse from the sensor vane must turn. The servo-rudder should have overload protection—a device that gives way during a collision—so that the windvane, its mounts, and the stern of your boat don’t bear the full impact. Freeing seaweed or a snagged fish trap from a servo-rudder should be quick and easy. You should be able to lift or fold the rudder out of the water and put it back in action while at sea. The pendulum rudder and its shafts must be rugged and resist corrosion.

One final consideration concerning the underwater unit is its ability to serve as an emergency rudder. Most pendulum servo-rudders are too small to steer the boat alone when used as an emergency rudder. Some manufacturers provide larger rudders that can be slipped over the servo-rudder in an emergency. If you’re going to use a servo-pendulum rudder as an emergency rudder, make sure its hull-attachment points are well reinforced because they’ll be subjected to much higher loads.

The Connections

If the vane sensor is the brain of the windvane, and the pendulum rudder provides the muscle, then the linkages are the nerves, the messengers that relay information between them. Two important linkages govern the windvanes we’ll look at: the one between the sensor vane and the pendulum rudder, and the one between the pendulum rudder and the boat’s rudder.

The linkage between the sensor vane and the pendulum rudder has two roles. The first is to efficiently relay every twitch in the sensor vane to the pendulum rudder. In a servo-pendulum vane, this means transforming the vertical motion at the vane sensor into the rotary motion at the servo-rudder. Because the vane’s signal may not be particularly strong, minimal friction here is important. Any play in the linkage will also interfere with an accurate steering impulse. Usually, this linkage is accomplished through bevel gears, levers, and/or rods, and manufacturers use plastic bushings, roller bearings, or ball bearings (often in plastic races) to reduce friction in the linkages. Bushing advocates tout resistance to dirt and corrosion; proponents of roller or ball bearings boast superior performance. In either case, this linkage should be durable, since its components can be hard to repair or replace at sea.

The second role of this linkage is to coordinate just how far the pendulum rudder will swing in relation to the vane’s movement. This helps determine how much helm will be applied to the ship’s rudder. For example, the 2-to-1 ratio of the bevel gears linking the horizontal vane to the pendulum rudder, common to many windvanes, doubles the force of the sensor vane’s impulse and halves the lateral motion of the pendulum rudder. One of the vanes we’ll look at allows you to adjust the ratio of this linkage to suit conditions.

The second linkage is between the pendulum rudder and your boat’s rudder. In most servo-pendulum vanes, this is usually accomplished by low-stretch lines led from the servo-rudder to the tiller or wheel. These lines attach to the servo-rudder either above or below its point of suspension (the horizontal axle or shaft on which the pendulum rudder swings). Manufacturers have long debated which is more effective; heavy-weather performance is an especially contentious issue. Makers that attach steering lines below the point of suspension, such as Aries and Monitor, lead the lines through struts that prevent the rudder from swinging out of the water and losing power in severe seas or a near broach, when lateral loads might be extreme. The opposite camp—including Sailomat, Windpilot, and Fleming, among others—contends that allowing the rudder greater swing room protects the gear from breaking under extreme lateral loads, makes it easier to swing the rudder up in port, permits more direct leads for steering-control lines, and allows for a more compact design. The compromises in either arrangement vary among boat designs. Look for a windvane that you can install in a way that maximizes the range of movement in the steering line—usually about 10 inches—and minimizes friction.

The linkage between the servo-rudder and the main rudder should be easy to disengage under load so that the helmsman can quickly take over. Again, reducing friction here is important. Large, lightweight, roller- or ball-bearing blocks with swivels—if needed—cut friction and ensure direct runs. Proper line tension, which may vary according to sea conditions, should be easy to adjust. Wheel-steered boats add more challenges: the added friction in the connection to the rudder and the “freewheel effect” of the wheel’s inertia. Attaching a windvane to a wheel-steered boat requires an adapter (usually with a clutch) mounted on the wheel. Most wheel-steered boats are compatible with servo-pendulum vanes, although they generally won’t respond as well as tiller-steered boats. Boats with hydraulic steering generally aren’t good candidates for servo-pendulum vane steering, although vanes have worked on hydraulic systems that have bypass valves. To accommodate those boats that are incompatible with traditional servo-pendulum designs, manufacturers are turning to auxiliary-rudder designs, which we’ll look at in the next installment.

The Choices

The primary differences among today’s servo-pendulum rudders are in construction materials, the linkages, and the ways they dampen the motion of either the vane or the pendulum rudder (yaw damping) so that he boat’s rudder receives an accurate steering impulse from the vane. Here are some of the main distinguishing features of the vanes we looked at in this class.

Aries: Apart from minor alterations, the Aries’ basic design has remained unchanged in nearly 30 years, and it’s earned a reputation as being rugged and reliable. Originally built in England and now manufactured in Denmark, the first mass-produced servo-pendulum windvane serves as a good standard for measuring those that have followed. Its formidable construction—cast aluminum, extruded-aluminum tubing, silicon bronze, and stainless steel—makes it one of the heaviest windvanes in this group. Galvanic corrosion can make cleaning or servicing troublesome on older, neglected models, but 20-year-old vanes that function perfectly are not uncommon. By turning a single screw, you can easily replace the plywood vane or angle it backward to dampen motion in higher winds. The vane swings on nylon roller bearings. Two lines control a toothed wheel that clicks with each adjustment and positions the vane to the apparent wind at 6-degree intervals. The servo-rudder is a semibalanced rudder made of foam-filled fiberglass. On older models, a breakaway tube on the rudder shaft affords 360-degree overload and collision protection. Newer models are protected from forward impact with a hinged shaft that eases raising or complete removal of the rudder. The vane-to-pendulum rudder linkage is a relatively heavy forked-aluminum rod linked to beveled silicon bronze gears with a 2-to-1 ratio. Nylon bushings at swivel joints also reduce friction on this linkage. The bearings for the pendulum rudder shaft are solid-plastic composite sleeves. The transmission lines are attached below the point of suspension, through built-in nylon blocks.

Monitor: Featured in the BOC Around Alone and popular among cruising sailors, the Monitor is quite similar to the Aries. The main difference is its construction: 1.9-inch-diameter, .049-inch-thick 316L stainless-steel tubing that avoids the galvanic problems of the Aries. It also features additional Delrin roller and ball bearings (as opposed to bushings in the Aries) in its vane-to-rudder linkage and in the pendulum rudder shaft. About five years ago, Monitor upgraded from 304 to 316L stainless steel. To protect the gear from impact, later models feature strut guards that also reinforced its substantial frame. Its sensor vane (angled 20 degrees) is plywood, easily replaceable, and can be infinitely adjusted by a line leading to the cockpit. A light-air sensor vane is standard. The rudder shaft is protected 360 degrees by a replaceable safety tube that collapses under extreme loads or impacts. Scanmar, the California manufacturer and dealer for several vanes, is known for good customer support and maintains a record of every Monitor. The Monitor has an emergency-rudder system that can be mounted on the pendulum rudder.

Sailomat 601: Sailomat’s fourth design in its familiar series of servo-pendulum vanes differs from the basic Aries design. The steering-control lines are attached above the pendulum’s point of suspension so the lines don’t need to cross before reaching a tiller. Remote course control for the vane position is optional. Forward impact protection is with a plastic composite sheer pin, and lateral overload protection is built in by its design, which allows the pendulum rudder to swing 170 degrees side to side—also useful when you’re in port or motoring. Rather than rely on bevel gears for the linkage from the sensor vane to the pendulum rudder, the Sailomat uses a universal linkage and a ball-and-socket joint, with solid Delrin bearings to reduce friction. This variable linkage allows you to adjust the vane-to-rudder ratio to suit varying wind and sea conditions. Yaw damping is provided by the angled pendulum rudder blade, which neatly follows the lines of many reverse transom boats. Body construction is cast silumin (an aluminum alloy) that’s chromated, wash primed, and painted with two coats of polyurethane paint. The solid, 1.6-inch-diameter shaft and large-diameter tubing (2.4-inch diameter with .24-inch wall thickness) is made of 6061 T6 aluminum alloy. Mixed Delrin and Torlon/PEEK roller bearings reduce shaft friction. Thread inserts insulate the stainless-steel fasteners from the aluminum. You can detach the Sailomat from the boat’s transom by undoing two bolts, making it one of the easiest to remove completely. Its compact setup occupies less horizontal space on the stern, but because the first set of lead blocks for the tiller control lines is mounted on the boat, an optional block holder will be required for some double enders. The unit features an optional emergency rudder.

Windpilot Pacific: The Windpilot Pacific melds two distinct design features: The steering-control lines attach to a lever above the pendulum rudder’s point of suspension; a 2-to-1 bevel-gear linkage between the vane sensor and servo-blade provides yaw-damping. This combination is made possible by 360-degree bevel gears, which let the servo-rudder swing up under lateral loads and make it easy to raise the rudder when it’s not in use. Adjustable friction plates securing the hemlock-and-epoxy rudder allow the rudder to kick up under fore-and-aft impact. You can adjust power transmission to the wheel or tiller by raising or lowering the point where the steering-control lines attach to the unit. The wheel coupling works like a disc break, allowing infinite adjustment. The vane sensor can be easily tilted back to reduce sensitivity and dampen motion. Body construction is cast aluminum (AlMg5) and 2.4-inch-diameter corrosion-resistant aluminum (AlMgSi5 F22) tubing, with a wall thickness ranging from .20 (in the vane tower) to .24-inches (in the rudder-shaft tube). The manufacturer uses no ball or roller bearings, preferring instead sliding bushings and sleeve bearings. Five different variable flanges facilitate installation on virtually any transom. You can remove the unit by undoing two bolts.

Fleming Global Major Series: Fleming, like the Windpilot, has the reverse servo arrangement to keep the unit compact, and keeps the 2-to-1 beveled-gear linkage between vane sensor and servo blade. The Fleming comes with both standard and storm sensor vanes made of polycarbonate. Its most noteworthy feature is its stainless-steel construction: high-grade (2205) castings and thick-walled 16-gauge stainless-steel tubing, with no structural welds. The bevel gears are also cast stainless steel. Delrin races for the stainless-steel bearings (needle bearings at the vane-to-rudder linkage, ball bearings at the rudder shaft) allow for easy removal. A 360-degree worm drive controlling the sensor-vane position can be operated by an endless line. Lateral overload protection for the stainless-steel rudder is by design, which allows the blade to lift completely out of the water (like the Sailomat and Windpilot). Forward impact protection is through a sheer pin on the hinged servo-rudder

Fleming offers a variety of mounting options, including one to accommodate open-transom boats.

Norvane: A relative newcomer, Norvane uses investment cast stainless steel and 316 stainless-steel tubing. It employs a reverse-servo design similar to the Fleming. Features include a polycarbonate sensor vane (two sizes) and two adjustable counterweights, which can be raised or lowered to change sensitivity or accommodate different vane sizes. Norvane also incorporates glass ball bearings in Delrin races on the vane sensor and the gear linkages and stainless-steel ball bearings in Delrin races on the servo-rudder shaft. Overload protection is through a breakaway tube on the pendulum shaft. The Norvane features a square socket joint to attach an optional emergency tiller. An emergency rudder is available. Mounting options fit a wide range of transoms.

Navik: This small, mostly 304 stainless-steel unit has been used successfully on Mini-Transat boats and many medium-displacement boats up to about 33 feet LOA. It’s not recommended for larger, heavy-displacement boats. The vane sensor is linked to a trim tab on the pendulum rudder, so that the underwater portion requires only minimal impulse from the vane. Control lines that run through a quadrant have the same effect as the reverse-servo arrangement in other vanes: lines to the tiller do not need to be crossed. The linkages on the Navik are carried out through ball-and-socket joints and a series of linked levers. These small parts are not as robust as the linkages in other servo-pendulum rudders. The Navik’s rudder has a sensitive overload protection that releases the oar on impact. It’s wide-swinging arc protects against lateral overload.

Cape Horn: A compact, stainless-steel unit, the Cape Horn introduces some novel changes to the basic design. The vane-to-servo-pendulum linkage uses a horizontal stainless-steel “Z bar” that reduces the number of moving parts. This arrangement allows a mounting option that conceals belowdecks part of the system, including most of the control lines to the tiller or wheel, and does away with the wheel adapter. A stainless-steel tube (3.25 inches outside diameter) is glass-laminated through the transom. Pivoting inside that tube, another smaller tube links the servo-rudder to a quadrant inside the lazarette. As the servo-blade swings, the inboard windvane quadrant rotates. Control lines are led through blocks attached to the boat’s steering quadrant (or tiller), then to a pair of jam cleats in the cockpit for quick disconnect or trim adjustment. The Cape Horn vane is the only servo-pendulum we look at this month that is recommended for hydraulically steered boats.

Installing the Cape Horn system belowdecks may not be suited to every boat. For this reason, Cape Horn also offers three conventional outboard models, with the control lines above the deck.

Read Part 2 of this article here .

Darrell Nicholson is a Cruising World associate editor. Contributing editor Michel Savage helped research this article.

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How it works: Self-steering Windvane

• November 27th, 2023
• Product Test

“She is a true beauty!”, those were my first words as I finally stopped in front of BIBI, a spotless Rustler 36, moored right at the end of the long pontoon in Les Sables d´Olonne . Her skipper, Andrea Lodolo, had invited me to come and see her and it was a no-brainer to identify her: Not many boats these days are rigged Solent-style, even lesser bear those classic lines. BIBI is a huge box of chocolates stuffed with everything you´d need for a serious circumnavigation.

The boat has recently been completely re-furbished by the Rustler shipyard in Falmouth with her skipper sparing no cost to have the boat structurally and visually brought to a “near new” state. Various partners had installed surplus equipment on the boat needed for long passage sailing, more than that, needed for solo-sailing long passages. Andrea Lodolo is listed as skipper participating in the upcoming Golden Globe Race of 2026. For the first of my articles on BIBI and her skipper, I picked one particular detail which I always wanted to write about: The mechanical self-steering windvane. Andrea agreed to demonstrate the basic functions, so here we go …

Pros and cons of a self-steering windvane

First of all, the advantages of having a mechanical self-steering aboard are clear: No energy or fuel consumption, operation in a 24/7-mode for weeks and even months is no problem. With the systems perfected over decades with hundreds of sailors and literally millions of nautical miles experience, these systems are rugged and refined. With as less parts as possible and those parts all virtually repairable and replacable, those systems are near fail-safe. In the Golden Globe Race, of course, where only AIS is a concession to modern times, the windvane is an absolute essential part of the boat. Andrea Lodolo went for the Canadian brand Hydrovane.

There are not many cons regarding this system. One is that the installation of this system kind of “ruins” the clean and neat lines of a boat. The frame and the vane itself is huge: An electric or hydraulic autopilot of course is “hidden” and won´t alter the outward appearance of a boat. Nevertheless, think the other way around, with a windvane your boat will look like a “real” go anyway boat. Secondly, the windvane inherently can only steer a certain course relative to the wind-angle. It will change course accordingly when the wind shifts – later more on that. So, Andrea, show us how the Hydrovane is “activated”.

How it works: Setting up the Hydrovane

I was surprised how easy and fast this system is indeed ready to go. There are two pins which have to be removed, just like in a aeroplane. When this is done, both the windvane itself and the attached rudder down in the water are free to rotate and move. Andrea tells me that these pins are essential and that he secures them thoroughly and has a total of four spare pins for his adventure.

The second step was very hard to take a picture of, because words in this matter describe it better: Relative to the wind-direction and the desired course to this wind, the vane must be adjusted. So first the boat is put to the course the skipper wants to steer. Now the windvane, by rotating it, is set to be facing the wind direction in exactly the same angle the wind hits the boat from aside. That´s basically it …

Andrea now demonstrates what happens, when the boat – driven by currents or waves – veers off course. Then the angle of the wind hits the vane from either the right or the left hand side. It then pushes the wind vane to either of those two sides agains a small counterweight that sits beneath the pivot of the vane. When this happens, the left-right swinging movement of the windvane is translated into the rotation of a cogwheel. This cogwheel, in a 45-degree-angle, is connected to another corresponding cogwheel that sits on top of what is basically the rudder shaft. The turning of those wheels makes the shaft turn, thus giving a rudder impulse making the boat turn.

Because this simple “gear” is set up in a way that a veering off to starboard will result in a ruder impulse to port side, the boat will counter the initial course change until the wind vane is again dead in the wind: Hence no more swinging, no rudder, midship back on the old course. In reality the boat, depending on the swell and the severity of its own weather helm, will follow a “snake” course of luffing and bearing away from the actual course. A phenomenon electric or hydraulic systems have as well. The Hydrovane is so simple that the whole demonstration lasted no longer than two minutes. Of course, Andrea has trained a lot and certainly there are details and fine tuning tricks, but I was astonished of how conveniently easy it all works.

Pro-tipp: Quick reaction/mechanical remote control

Rather interesting was a detail he showed to me, I never had heard of in the first place regarding the self-steering windvane: A quick reaction-setup and in a way also a “remote control” for the wind vane. He said that in severe weather with very high waves it can be dangerous to haul oneself out over the aft coamings to re-adjust the angle of the vane when needed. Also, when a sudden hefty change in wind direction or a gust demands a quick turning of the adjusting wheel.

For this, there is a separate wheel and an endless loop-line connected to it. This has exactly the length of the cockpit. By means of a clip and a rubber band this band is strapped to one of the cleats next to the entryway and thus put under tension. Now, because this is a loop, Andrea can pull either one of those two lines, making the wheel at the end of the boat turn either left or right.

In doing so, he can make the vane turn into the wind very fast, hopefully before the gust of the windshift will make his boat turn and – by chance – turn into the waves which can cause serious trouble. Also, in shitty weather, he can sit there underneath his soon to be installed dodger to fine-tune the angle of the windvane as well. A pretty neat solution and again, wonderfully easy.

I can only imaging the harsh reality of the roaring forties and I cannot comprehend what it can be like in the furious Fifties, but I am sure that this system is increasing the safety for Andrea and all the other skippers using the Hydrovane manyfold.

Speaking of safety …

I remember talking to Golden Globe Race finisher Istvan Koper who circumvented the Earth in his boat in 2018/19, he told me that his windvane (it was a different brand than Andrea´s self-steering) broke pretty early on in the race. So I ask Andrea about his feelings regarding the rigidity of his self-steering, repairability and spare parts. Of course, he says, thinks can break – more so in the face of one of the most remote and violent places BIBI is going to sail, but tries to be prepared.

For that, he carries a complete spare vane frame in case all too violent gusts or turns will beak the aluminium frame. Also, he has a spare vane canvas that is to span onto the frame itself. Being a canvas, those of course can rip apart or get punctured. To me the whole mechanism, albeit being surprisingly nimble and quickly reacting (there is very little force needed to turn the rudder) made quite a rigid impression.

Lastly, Andrea pointed to an extension on the rudder shaft of the mechanism: This is where an emergency tiller could be mounted very quickly and easily. The Rustler 36 is a long keeled classic full-displacement yacht, very stable, very seaworthy and one of the handful of choices most GGR participants opted for. A long, very thick rudder and a solid tiller – I can´t imagine anything that could break this, not even a “playful” Orca . But it´s certainly good to have a fallback.

So much more to explore

Two guys jump aboard the boat, in the meantime the Les Sables autumn sun stands a bit higher, illuminating this unusually warm and calm mid-November morning in a golden shine. Andrea begs himself off, to brief one of the guys for further installations on BIBI. The second one turns out to be his sailing mate, today both are going to test the new inflatable dinghy. Andrea´s Rustler 36 is equipped already with anything a skipper might wish for his journey. In preparation for the Golden Globe Race, Andrea is going to sail her during the winter right here in Les Sables d´Olonne, where the rough Atlantic Seas finally smash against Europe after being stirred up on their way over the ocean. He invites me for a follow up – so much more to see, so many details to write about.

Seldom have I met a guy so determined, so calm but yet full of action. A guy who conveys the trust and the self-confidence, brings the experience and also the curiosity that is needed to tackle what he is about to do: Embarking on the possibly one of the biggest adventures a sailor can participate in. Im am sure, BIBI, his beautiful yet rugged Rustler 36, won´t let him down.

You may be interested in those related articles too:

Istvan Kopar on his Golden Globe Race 2018/19

Setting up a B&G autopilot

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Wind vane steering

It’s the green version of an autopilot, helming your boat while consuming no power. sarah curry advises how best to use a wind vane steering system.

The overall concept is simple: a non-electric device mounted on the boat’s transom has a vane that takes a signal from the wind. Based on this input, the boat is steered – by various mechanisms – on the apparent wind-based course you set.

The beauty of an apparent wind-based course is that as you sail along in ever fluctuating winds, your boat stays properly trimmed. Your course follows the wind, but over long distances this is much more efficient, comfortable, and surprisingly faster than a magnetic compass course.

Setting and Adjusting a Course

The first step is to sail your boat on the desired heading; easy enough. Let’s say this happens to be on a beam reach. Set a balanced sail plan and trim the sails for that point of sail. It’s important to feel the helm; the boat should almost be steering herself by the time you are ready to engage the windvane.

Set this course (a beam reach) for your windvane by feathering the vane so it points directly into the apparent wind, and engage the unit. As your boat falls off course the new wind angle will push the vane over and the system will take control to bring you back to that beam reach.

The apparent wind at the top of the mast (which is where your wind instruments are measuring from) may be different from the apparent wind the vane feels. Attaching a piece of yarn to the top of the vane is helpful for determining the wind direction.

Has your electronic autopilot made you lazy when it comes to sail trim and boat balance? We are all guilty. You may ignore your autopilot grinding away and wearing itself out, but your windvane will tell you if your boat is not well enough balanced by not keeping course. Bear in mind she’s one of those silent and observant type teachers – but she’s a good one; you’ll become a better sailor for it.

A pole on the jib or genoa is a must for downwind sailing with a windvane; a collapsing headsail puts the boat off balance with every swell.

Keep an eye on the heading. Tradewind sailing is lovely with fairly consistent wind direction, but if there’s a wind shift over time your heading will also be changing. Adjust course back to your desired heading by changing the vane angle and readjusting sails for the new point of sail.

Such course adjustments are done on most units by pulling a line that can rotate the vane through 360 degrees – to whatever point of sail you want to be on. This course-setting line is usually an endless loop that you run into the cockpit, so that you can adjust your heading without having to reach over the boat’s stern. This line is best run down a lifeline so it’s reachable from the cockpit, but not in the way.

Minor tweaking is fairly normal – to fall off or head up a few degrees. But if the wind shifts more drastically, let’s say 20°, then your course will also shift by 20° following the wind. To get back on track Pull on the course line to change the vane by about the same amount (20°), so you are back on the desired heading. At the same time you are trimming your sails to this new point of sail. In a circumstance where the wind suddenly backs, you will probably jump on the wheel, trim your sails and then adjust the vane to suit.

All types of windvane steer to a wind-based course, but do so by very different methods.

Sevo-pendulum system

Most servo-pendulum models steer using the ship’s rudder via control lines led to the ship’s wheel or tiller. Brands are Aries, of which 14,000 have been sold since 1968, and which is now based in Amsterdam, Cape Horn (direct connection to quadrant), Fleming, Monitor, Sailomat, Navik (out of production), Norvane, Neptune, South Atlantic, Voyageur, and Wind Pilot Pacific. These systems cost £1,500-£5,000.

As the boat falls off course the wind angle changes and the vane is pushed over. Movement of the vane rotates the in-water servo oar (also called paddle or blade). Once moved from dead ahead position, the flow of the water pushes the oar to one side with force. A connecting line is pulled to turn the wheel or tiller so the main rudder moves to bring the boat back on course.

Auxiliary rudder system

Auxiliary rudder systems are independent from all other aspects of the boat. As a complete second steering system and rudder, the loads they must deal with are far greater in comparison.

After the vane is feathered into the wind, the main rudder must be ‘locked off’ so it is stationary. While setting up and with hands on the wheel to feel the helm, you’ll find a sweet spot where the boat is tracking nicely. Often the main rudder won’t be centreline, depending on how the boat sails, the conditions and the seas. Lock the main rudder in that comfortable position, and it becomes a giant trim tab to the auxiliary rudder. The system is then engaged and the auxiliary rudder will take over steering the boat.

The three main Auxiliary Rudder system types, all of which function differently, and which cost approximately £3,000-£5,500, can be tuned even further if you’re someone who likes to tune and tweak.

Auxiliary rudder with servo-pendulum

Auxiliary rudder with trim tab

Auxiliary rudder with large vane

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Windvane Steering

Windvane self-steering options fall into two categories, servo pendulum and auxiliary rudder. Servo pendulum solutions utilize your boat’s own rudder and as the name suggests, auxiliary rudder products work with a separate, independent rudder system.

We believe servo-pendulum systems like the Monitor are usually your best option. They are more powerful, and perform better across a wider range of conditions on most boats and never require assistance from your autopilot.

You'll find a comprehensive review of the comparative merits of both systems at " Auxiliary Rudder vs. Servo-Pendulum " in our library.

At Scanmar, we manufacture the Monitor Windvane servo pendulum system, and the Saye’s Rig, which is often the best choice for very large boats with high freeboard.

Whatever your unique requirements, we have a self-steering solution for you.

The Monitor and TopHat 

Saye's rig.

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A Guide to Equipping Your Boat with a Windvane

Daniel Collins provides a summary of the major choices involved in the purchase of new self-steering gear. 

A common piece of equipment found on the modern offshore cruising sailboats is the autopilot. Whether it is an electronic unit, a windvane, or both, the need to relieve the helmsman from steering duty is essential to making safe passages, especially when sailing short of singlehanded.

The major choices when faced with the purchase of new self-steering gear are: What conditions the unit is expected to perform in; what are the possible failure modes; what are the challenges when mounting the components to the boat; and last but not least, how much should ongoing maintenance and the expected service life of the gear be considered?

Trim Tab Steering A trim tab windvane, less commonly seen by major manufacturers today, was the forerunner of the modern windvane system and works by affixing a small “trim tab” to the main rudder.  This trim tab is easily moved due to a small surface area, and the windvane’s power is sufficient enough to kick it to one side or the other. As the trim tab swings, it creates a significant water force, causing the ship’s main rudder to move opposite, and this motion of the main rudder is able to steer the vessel. Though this sounds complicated, it works rather well and was a predominant form of steering for many offshore boats until the servo-pendulum was developed.  It had a major drawback, though, in that it could not be fitted to a boat where the trailing edge of the rudder was difficult to access, as in the case of counter sterns.

The servo-pendulum system is the “classic” windvane, with a small servo blade that looks like the windvane’s rudder in the water, and a larger windvane “paddle” in the air.  As the vane tips to one side or the other, the servo blade turns in the water like a mini rudder, but this doesn’t generate sufficient force to steer the boat by itself. Instead, as the rudder turns, the water flowing past it swings it to one side or the other.

For a similar analogy, think of when you stick your hand outside a car window while moving. If you turn your hand sideways and “fly” it like an airplane wing, as you change the angle of your hand the air pushes it up or down. This servo rudder does that same thing in the water, and the force of the water pushing it to one side or the other is surprisingly powerful. This force is then used to turn the main rudder through lines that are affixed to the tiller or wheel of the boat.

The servo-pendulum is rather complicated as it has many moving parts and the constantly moving lines can chafe over long passages. In addition, the variety of moving joints and frequent oscillation cause certain models to have a reputation for breaking down mid-passage; to the immense frustration of their skippers. Thus, it is important to understand the issues facing the specific brand and series of the servo-pendulum you may wish to purchase, as well as to gather a general feel for its reputation in the offshore community as the quality of these devices varies greatly, even from the same manufacturer, as improvements were made from year to year or model to model.

To reduce the complexity of the installation, the auxiliary rudder windvane was invented.

Auxiliary Rudder Vane The auxiliary rudder windvane works on an entirely different principle than the other two types. Instead of the windvane, with its low power, moving a small rudder tab or servo blade to increase power before steering the boat, the auxiliary rudder windvane uses a very powerful vane to directly steer a balanced rudder. There is no connection to the boat’s rudder and typically the boat’s rudder is left centered or angled very slightly to balance the helm. Auxiliary rudder windvanes put a tremendous amount of force on the vane, rudder and boat mounting points, as they are directly steering the boat. This makes it more essential to buy an extremely well made model, as there is very little tolerance for poorly designed gear under these stresses. A well-made system, however, is exceptionally reliable offshore because it only has a few moving parts and no critical lines that can chafe through. A good auxiliary rudder system has the added advantage of being able to serve, in many cases, as a “spare” or “emergency” rudder should something happen to the main rudder or steering system. This feature has helped several sailors return safely to port after catastrophic steering failure offshore.

MAJOR CONSIDERATIONS While windvanes do not require any electricity to operate, and thus tend to be preferred by the offshore sailing crowd, they require a lot of care in mounting, installation, and use. Windvanes are only useful, of course, when the wind is blowing from a consistent direction and with a reasonable amount of force to power the vane. For most systems, five knots is sufficient, but as the wind becomes variable or gusty, the change in apparent wind angle is enough to cause the vane to behave erratically until the wind stabilizes somewhat. As a result, they tend to be most useful in longer passages, particularly in clear air.

Additionally, the mounting of a wind vane system must be extremely strong and rigid, particularly for auxiliary rudder vanes, which exert full rudder forces on their mounting points.  Because of this, the mounting system for most vanes spreads the load across many parts of the transom and can obstruct or prevent the installation of other equipment such as arches, davits, outboard motor mounts or swim platforms. Consult with the manufacturer to get diagrams of the necessary space required and mounting options before committing to a given design.

Also, if you are considering a trim-tab or servo-pendulum system, note that additional modifications to your boat may be required to provide strong and solid fairleads for the control lines, to attach those lines to your wheel or tiller, and in the special case of a trim-tab, to affix the tab to the ship’s rudder. These considerations can be a significant part of the installation effort and expense, so plan your install carefully as these details are often the weak points that bring grief to otherwise solid and reliable vane gear.

Lastly, consider the air you are putting the vane portion of the self-steering into: Is it obstructed by arches, solar panels, dodgers or turbulent air off the mainsail?  In many cases, some of this is unavoidable, so consult with the manufacturer to determine if the obstruction is significant enough to cause an issue with the vane getting clear air to properly steer by. Many vanes stick up far enough to get above deck and cockpit objects, so make sure there is nothing above the vane such as dinghy davits or mizzen sails to obstruct the full range of the vane’s motion.

COMMON FAILURE MODES The windvane is, in general, an exceptionally reliable piece of gear if it is suitable for your boat, and maintained and manufactured properly. However, failures do occur, most notably on trim-tab and servo pendulum systems. Excessive chafe on control lines, control line fairlead breakdown, and screw or retaining pin failure on part of the gear mechanism are the common offshore issues. Fortunately, replacing the lines is not difficult, and spares are easy to carry and refit. If a key vane component goes into the water though, replacing it at sea, even if a spare is carried, can often be impossible in all but the calmest conditions. Therefore, maintaining vane gear and keeping a lanyard or tether on the most critical components is essential.

For instance, with offshore sailors the first and foremost consideration is usually that the unit be able to function at all times in nearly all but the most extreme survival weather and require the least amount of crew interaction necessary. This necessitates that the unit be able to operate independently of electrical systems or engine function, and thus often swings the offshore sailor’s preference in favor of a windvane.

However, if the sailor has a very well equipped yacht, with redundant and ample power supplies, or if he or she expects to motor as much or more than sail, during which electricity is provided by the engine’s operation, an electronic autopilot may make more sense.

For many sailors with the budget, having both a windvane and an electronic autopilot may be a good solution, keeping in mind the situations in which either will be needed. But armed with the awareness of how and where each of the major self-steering types are most useful and in what ways they are often unsuitable, a wise skipper can make the most sensible decision for his vessel and sailing intentions.

Daniel Collins, an ASA certified sailing and navigation instructor, amateur extra class radio operator and small boat racer, enjoys experimenting with marine electronics. He is also actively involved in community-driven social change. Email him at [email protected], or read his blog at www.oddasea.com . He owns Aletheia, an Allied Princess.

Cape Horn Marine Products www.capehorn.com

Hydrovane www.hydrovane.com

Sailomat International www.sailomat.com

Scanmar International products include the Monitor Windvane and Auto-Helm Windvane www.selfsteer.com

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Hydrovane ® – Your best crew member

Hydrovane® at a glance, the hydrovane self-steering windvane is both a mechanical self-steering windvane for offshore sailboats and an emergency rudder..

With our Hydrovane ® wind-control systems, we offer a combination of wind-vane control and an always-ready emergency rudder, suitable for every stern.

Off-centre assembly, even for modern yachts with bathing platforms, tailgates and catamarans, can be subsequently equipped. These systems are the first choice for many blue-water sailors today. tom logisch is also specialised in installations on large catamarans.

key benefits

Advantages of using hydrovane self-steering windvane solutions.

• Suitable for all blue-water yachts – for all yacht sterns and catamarans
• Off-centre installation possible – for all modern yachts with bathing platforms
• Emergency rudder ready for use at any time – a considerable safety benefit
• Simple operation – ready for use in four simple steps
• Independent rudder – no connection to the main rudder
• No lines across the cockpit – therefore also suitable for hydraulic controls/centre cockpits
• Adjustable wind vane for heavy yachts
• Worldwide services + ARC services
• Assembly and installation by tom logisch

Please see our tom logisch installation service +

Hydrovane – Your best crew member

Last updated: 21 Aug 2023

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The purpose of a wind-vane self steering device is to allow the skipper to do something other than sitting at the helm. While this is not practical for most un-ballasted small sailboats, a self steering device is an essential tool for the cruising sailor. Graham has been testing the wind vane on his  Core Sound 17 Mark 3  which has an excess of stability and is a perfect candidate for self steering. Following its success we have scaled up the mechanism which is built with modest tools and materials to work for larger boats up to 30 feet. 

We are pleased to offer our wind vane design as a set of downloadable plans and instructional documents revealing all the dimensions and ratios used as well as recommended materials and construction methods for building this simple cheap and effective system at a fraction of the cost of an off the shelf system. Graham's design is based on his decades of experience building wind vane self steering gear since the 1970's and the tips and tricks for setting up a simple to build and reliable system are all conveyed here. The plans for our wind vane include full size templates for all the critical parts along with the dimensions and ratios used. A builder's guide covers recommended materials and things to watch out for as well as details of construction. All you have to do is adapt the system to work on your boats transom configuration. To learn more about our system and if it might be a good fit for you just keep reading. 

How a self steering wind vane works. Short version. The “vane” part in the air provides the input to the rudder. The upper part of the system (the input or vane) is rotated such that it points into the apparent wind once the boat is on course. When the boat gets off course, the force of the wind hits the side of the vane causing it to lean over or in some cases rotate which in turn produces a correcting movement on the rudder. This turns the boat back on course until the vane is once again back to a neutral location. The trick to this is getting the right proportions, feedback and ratios of the vane, rudder, trim tab and control linkages. 

Our Design Requirements

1. Low Friction : The name of the game is LOW FRICTION with wind vane self steering devices. We accomplish this with polished stainless steel against uhmw plastic for a cheap and reliable low friction connection. 

2. Kick-up Auxiliary Rudder : This was a MUST HAVE for our shallow draft boats and not a feature we have seen on ANY other wind vane designs with an aux. rudder. The rudder pivots on a pin at the top of the transom and is held down with a line on a breakaway cleat. 

3. Trim Tab Control : The aux. rudder is controlled by a trim tab that is actuated by the movement of the wind-vane (the part in the air). It's mesmerizing to watch and works completely without batteries or power. 

4. Adjustable vane : The wind vane itself pivots on a horizontal axis that is inclined slightly. This creates an important damping effect in the actuation of the tab so that as the vane tilts it loses power because its projected area decreases. This reduces “hunting” and oversteering and unnecessary oscillation of the input to the rudder. 

5. Removable vane : As with most systems, the vane is completely removed or replaced in seconds and can also be tilted back to increase the damping effect for high winds or made more vertical for light air which increases power. It can also be swapped out for a larger or smaller vane in lighter or stronger conditions. 

6. Adjustable from anywhere in the cockpit : With the addition of a control wheel we can spin the upper part of the vane assembly 360 degrees using a control line routed around the cockpit. This means we can make small adjustments to the direction of the vane from anywhere you can reach the control line. 

-Note that there are features we did not incorporate but may be important to some. One such feature is an emergency tiller. This allows for the use of the auxiliary rudder if the main rudder becomes inoperable. We would certainly want this feature on an ocean going cruising boat. If you build the auxiliary rudder up to reach the top of the transom then this is not difficult to do. Our kick up auxiliary rudder makes this a bit more of a challenge but a tiller tube can be fitted to reach a socket without much difficulty. 

How does our wind vane system work...“I love it when you talk technical.” Our design uses a horizontal pivoting wind vane to control a trim tab on an auxiliary rudder. ( n this configuration, the vessels main rudder does the heavy lifting of keeping the boat generally on course essentially acting like a fixed skeg when the wind vane is engaged. The main rudder and most importantly the sails are adjusted first to balance the helm and then locked off with a tiller clutch. The auxiliary rudder then keeps the boat on course with small adjustments using a trim tab to amplify the power from the wind vane.

But will it work on my boat? … yes but! There are literally dozens of ways to control a boat using a wind vane. Here are a few  put into a nice chart we found on one of the many commercially available wind vane self steering gear company websites. The most common systems are auxiliary rudder systems and servo pendulum systems. If you prefer a  servo pendulum system or your boat is better suited for one then you can still use the vane assembly from these plans and simply adapt the lower unit however we do not show details for a pendulum in these plans.  Servo pendulum gears can generate great power but they are not easy to build and come at a higher cost due to the stronger materials and complicated parts required. They also rely on additional lines and rigging running through the cockpit. We feel an auxiliary rudder or trim tab system offers the best all-around self-steering device for most boats especially for low cost and simple construction methods.  A balanced auxiliary rudder can generate as much power as you need for most boats and has the benefit of being a redundant rudder in the event you need it. In addition, a super low power electronic autopilot like the pypilot can be connected directly to the trim tab or auxiliary rudder to steer a course while motoring for example.

We once installed an auxiliary rudder wind vane on a 45’ steel sloop one third of it’s way into a circumnavigation. It completed its way around the world even though the boat crashed onto a reef in Venezuela. The skipper shipped the auxiliary rudder while the boat pounded. After being dragged off the reef, and with the spade rudder inoperable, the aux rudder steered the boat to port where the main rudder and other damage was repaired. The owner said that the wind vane rudder which was equipped with an emergency tiller mount saved the boat.

The most cited disadvantage of an auxiliary rudder system are that they don't kick up and they require the construction and mounting of an extra rudder. Kicking up is an important feature and one we didn't want to give up especially for our smaller trailable boats.  Our auxiliary rudder can be tilted completely out of the water when not in use.  This is accomplished with some careful geometry and clever mounting BUT it is best suited for nearly vertical  or forward raking transoms. You can still fit an auxiliary rudder to a transom with reverse rake but it is typically done with a very strong vertical tube bolted to the transom at the top and bottom with braces extending diagonally low to the waterline for support. This requires some complex geometry and custom mounting brackets so it is a bit more challenging to mount.  If you are fitting a wind vane self steering system to a boat with an existing transom hung fixed (non kick up) rudder then a trim tab added directly to the main rudder may be a better solution for your boat and our wind vane would be easily adapted in this case. 

The real challenge of mounting. “No size fits all.” Production self steering units will supply various kits and tubing and brackets to help make their systems fit your transom with just a few bolt holes carefully placed. Even with those systems it's up to you to mount it correctly and this will be no different.  You will, without a doubt, need a custom mounting solution for your boat and you are the best person to design and build it! The system we are offering here is but a single example of a configuration fitted to a vertical or forward raking transom of our own design. We can’t help everyone mount this system to their individual transoms and there are probably some sterns that will really be challenging. You may need to design your own rudder for example using the parameters and ratios we offer in our plans as a guide in order to meet the needs of your transom configuration. This is for you to figure out! Remember, being a D.I.Y’er (also known as a sailor) is all about saving money by not charging yourself for the time it takes you to do stuff!

Limitations of a mechanical self steering device... What’s the “Ketch”? Wind vanes are not for everyone and one you build yourself has its own unique challenges to boot. A mechanical wind vane cannot blindly follow a compass course but instead must follow the ever-shifting wind direction and balance of the boat as wind and seat state change. On very fast boats, the apparent wind direction shifts so much that a wind vane is somewhere between useless and dangerous. Cruising cats can be fitted with wind vanes but typically an electronic autopilot is more practical due to their higher speeds. A mechanical wind vane relies on the wind speed being greater than the boat speed which for the vast majority of cruising boats is usually the case. On the current crop of large single handed around the world racers, automatic pilots have become so sophisticated they require training of the computer as they learn the boats behavior during high speed breakaways. 

If you are travelling at displacement speeds with a bit of surfing thrown in and if you do not have unlimited power and money and if you do not mind making small adjustments to the boats trim and self-steering gear as the wind shifts, you will have a loyal assistant that never grows tired or needs feeding. 

Staying in trim A good sailor keeps his boat in trim and a happy wind vane is one that is sailing a boat that is already balanced as well as possible. If your boat is heavy on the helm already then you may need the extra power provided by a servo pendulum system. If you have a hard time steering your boat, a wind vane (any wind vane) will too. 

Space requirements Highlighted below on Graham's Core Sound 17 Mark 3 'Carlita'. Our design requires open space above the transom so it won't work on a standard Core Sound 17 for example due to the proximity of the mizzen sheets. The addition of a boomkin allows the mizzen sheet to be behind the reach of the wind vane sail in the case of the CS-17 Mk3. Likewise a yawl with long mizzen boom will be a challenge as the mechanism must be mounted far behind the transom.

A few notes from Graham....

"Horizontal axis vanes and servo pendulum paddles are the most powerful self steering systems and are certainly required for large or heavy handed vessels. Carlita is a light well mannered boat and requires finesse rather than brute force. If you have not already seen the self steering video, check out the video and answer your own question. She is running almost straight downwind and surfing. After this video was taken she surfed to a little over 10 knots without misbehaving." 

Above, Graham steering his then unpainted Core Sound 17 Mark 3 Carlita with all sails flying in the 2016 Everglades Challenge. Note that this earlier version of the kick up wind vane employed a vertically pivoting vane which was converted the more recent version afterward. Vertically pivoting vanes have less power but do offer some advantages such as being able to just point into the wind when not in use. (photo Patrick Johnson)  

Graham continues...

"The key is an ultra light vane and very low friction. The lead counter weight is just 6 oz on Carlita's system. to balance the vane. This makes the vane very responsive and reduces friction and lowers the mass moment of inertia. The next important feature is differential feedback in the linkage. This means that when the vane kicks the servo tab over and the tab turns the auxiliary rudder, the angle of the tab is rapidly reduced. If you do not have this feature the boat will hunt badly down wind where there is no natural balance from the sails as you do when close hauled. The whole thing is a delicate balance between power and feedback."

In the video below, Graham sails Carlita a Core Sound 17 Mark 3 with the wind vane rudder disabled and in the "raised" position and the boat steers herself with proper sail trim to windward. Notice that the tiller is simply lashed. 

"I want the rudder fixed to aid directional stability. Before engaging the vane, I try to find the sweet spot for the rudder and lock it. I will then observe the course after the vane is engaged for a while and I may rotate the vane or move the tiller slightly. Usually I adjust the vane first. It is a powerful little vane and will tolerate a fair amount of imbalance. All self steering systems hunt but the better everything is balanced the less oversteering there will be.

If you do not enjoy fiddling then a wind vane may not be for you. Naturally they are worthless in waterways because the wind is too shifty. But It did do a great job last week running down the Cape Fear River. The GPS showed a top speed of 8.75 knots and the speed was rarely under 6, at least 3 knots of that was current." -Graham Byrnes

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Detailed drawings of how to build a low-cost wind self-steering system for your Wharram catamaran, mainly out of wood. Gives different set-ups for Classic, Pahi and Tiki designs. Based on the system that sailed Pahi 63 'Spirit of Gaia' round the world.

Multihulls Catamarans

Catamarans have a relatively long length along the waterline and no ballast at all, and consequently hold a straight line very well. The pressure on the rudder is relatively low as well, so they are easily steered.

They accelerate far faster than monohulls in the puffs, however, which causes dramatic fluctuations in the apparent wind angle. The same is true in the lulls: they slow down quickly and the wind swings aft. The principle is as follows: when a gust hits a monohull, it causes increased heel and minor acceleration and the apparent wind swings forward only a little. A multihull is unaffected by heel but accelerates quickly; the apparent wind angle swings forward markedly.

This explains why catamaran sailors have always relied almost exclusively on autopilots. However a windvane system can be useful on extended voyages.

Servo-pendulum systems can produce perfect steering on catamarans. The great speed potential allows the pendulum rudder to generate substantial steering force. The wind vane functions well as the steering impulse generator as long as the wind strength and angle remain constant. It is no good in gusty weather or if the wind strength is variable because the windvane system will snake all over the place. In these conditions the wind vane can be removed and a small autopilot (cockpit autopilot) used to furnish the steering impulses.

A servo-pendulum system can obviously only function if steering force transmission to the main rudder is smooth. The steering lines should not under any circumstances be lead via the wheel adaptor to a wheel steering system as the wheel is normally some way from the stern on a catamaran. Transmission to the emergency tiller works only if the wheel-steering mechanism can be disconnected; this of course assumes that the helmsperson can easily reach (and steer with) the emergency tiller whenever necessary.

A better approach involves parting the mechanical connection between the two rudders, leaving rudder no.1 connected to the wheel for manual steering and for fine trimming the course when the windvane system has the helm, and connecting rudder no.2 to the servo-pendulum gear via the emergency tiller and the steering lines. Hydraulic steering systems can also be adapted by this method.

Auxiliary rudder and double rudder systems are not suitable for installation on catamarans. The aft beam crosses high above the surface so mounting the gear sufficiently close to the water proves difficult. Even if mounting on the aft beam was possible, it would still leave the auxiliary rudder completely exposed to flotsam.

Continue reading here: Rig sloop cutter yawl or ketch

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Downwind Sailing on a Cruising Catamaran

Although sailing downwind in the trades in a cruising boat has its challenges, it is a relatively pleasant and fairly easy experience on a catamaran.

There is a more-or-less continuous flow of air across the Atlantic called the trade winds. Because the Earth is warmer at the equator and colder at the poles, and because of Earth’s rotation, this flow is generally westerly (from the west) near the poles and easterly nearer the equator.

Every season there is a migration of cruising boats that follow the trades when the trade winds are steady. One such migration is from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean across the Atlantic Ocean in November / December every year from east to west. It is the same downwind route that we took when we sailed our own boat back from France to the Caribbean in November 2019.

Although sailing downwind in the trades in a cruising boat has its challenges, it is a relatively pleasant and fairly easy experience on a catamaran. Assuming that your catamaran is a regular production cat like a Leopard, Bali or Lagoon, well equipped with cruising gear, you’ll perform much the same way as an equivalent monohull with either a conventional symmetrical spinnaker or asymmetric sail. Like on monohulls, you will pretty much sail to hull speed provided your catamaran is not overloaded. Performance cats are a different animal of course.

Therefor a regular cruising cat, much like a monohull, needs a lot of sail area and has to sail deep downwind if it is to achieve a decent speed made good (VMG), typically between 160° and 170°. But multihulls offer a unique wide platform for setting and sheeting downwind sails that set it apart from monohulls and make it a lot easier to sail downwind. The wide deck platform provides outboard sheeting points that makes downwind sails more efficient and the windward hull provides a tack location when sailing deeper angles is desired. Our preferred downwind sail is the assymmetrical spinnaker but a wing-on-wing configuration with dual head sails is very effective and, in many cases, safer and easier to handle for shorthanded crew.

Asymmetrical Sails for Downwind Sailing

Most modern catamarans choose to fly an asymmetric spinnaker and tack it to the weather bow. Sailmakers have managed to design these asymmetric sails so that they have more volume aloft. That means that even when you’re sailing deep angles, the luff of the sail sets well to windward and is able to catch more breeze that would have passed to windward of the boat. This configuration is pretty much as good as it gets for a cruising catamaran and is good for a range of apparent wind angles of between 90-160 degrees.

That was our sail plan onboard our Bali 5.4 when we did the Atlantic crossing…that is until we blew the asymmetrical sail halfway through our crossing and had to resort to using our Code Zero and jib in a wing-on-wing configuration for the duration of the trip. The spinnaker propelled us across the Atlantic fast. We easily did 200nm + days on the Bali 5.4 in 15 knots of wind.

The asymmetrical sail is a fantastic sail in light winds and once you understand just how easy it is to set and take down, it will be one of your favorite sails to use. These big downwind sails set forward of the mast and so, if there should be a sudden wind increase, the sheet can quickly be released, and the sail allowed to depower by streaming downwind. That means that when on passage, a cruising catamaran can always be rendered safe if things get a little out of hand. All being well, it can be snuffed, ideally while in the lee of the mainsail.

The key as always is in preparation. Make sure the sheets and halyard are all free to run and the sock is not crossed or tangled. The other mistake many of us tend to make is to over-sheet the spinnaker. One should let it fly out as far away from the boat as possible. It will make a huge difference. Keep easing the sheet until the luff curls, testing how far you can ease it out. You can always wind it back in. See the video here of how we set up our asymmetrical sail>>

We had our Asymmetrical sail made by Quantum in Annapolis, MD for our new Bali 5.4. It is a monster sail but surprisingly easy to handle. Andrew listened to our requirements for this downwind sail and built a sail that was ideally suited for our application.  A word from our sailmaker at Quantum>> .

Wing-on-Wing Sail Configuration with Dual Headsails

The Code Zero is our favorite sail to use in light winds. It is the most popular cruising multihull downwind sail because they offer great versatility and cover a wide range of wind angles. Today the furling systems used with these sails are great and is as easy to use as a jib. We fly that sail most often and when the wind is just right on the beam, we really get flying. The Code Zero is best used with an AWS (apparent wind speed) of up to 18 knots, with an apparent wind angle (AWA) of less than 135 degrees.

When we blew out our asymmetrical sail halfway across the Atlantic, we were forced to use our head sails and our sailing became somewhat more conservative and a little slower. We set up a wing-on-wing configuration with the Code Zero to one side and the jib out to the other side of the boat. The two sails combine to create one giant sail, and the wind funnels from one sail to another and even though a touch slower than the asymmetrical, was totally adequate and is much more forgiving than sailing wing-on-wing with the headsail and mainsail where you have to use preventers etc. This configuration is also much more manageable and safer to handle for shorthanded crew or a couple.

Autopilot Wind Vane for Downwind Sailing on a Catamaran

When sailing with finicky sail configurations like the ones above, be sure to put your autopilot on wind vane mode and set the wind angle as a priority.  That way, if the wind shifts, your autopilot will adjust the boat to have the sails properly filled.  If you are running on a heading or a track when the wind shifts, you might find your sails backwinded or do an accidental gibe, which is dangerous.

Being on the wind vane setting does mean that you need to pay extra attention to your course; if the wind shifts, you may have to switch to another downwind sail tactic. Always get the boat balanced and steering comfortably before you switch on the autopilot. If the helm is overpowered and the steering is hard to control when you steer, the autopilot will have the same difficulty keeping a steady course. Set your right combination of sails and trim the sails well to set a comfortable course, then set the autopilot and watch it for a time to make sure it doesn’t labor too hard.

Chafe is Significant on Sails

Sailing downwind across the Atlantic, one will experience a lot of chafe on your running rigging. It’s a huge problem. We had our Code Zero come down while sailing from Madeira to the Canary Islands because the halyard was chafed right through in a few hours. Fortunately, we retrieved the sail without any issues, but it could have been a real problem. One should make provision for chafe and check your lines all the time. In fact, it is good practice to simply roam around the boat and check your running and standing rigging daily while on passage. We have bought several lengths of Dyneema sleeve and have sewn this chafe gear on the wear spots on the spinnaker halyard as well as all the reefing points on the main halyard.

Crash Stop or Quick Stop

Cruising yachts are mostly sailed by couples and are essentially short-handed. When a crew member goes overboard it is always at the worst possible time and completely unexpected, which means that the reaction time to start the correct maneuver is usually not good. The man overboard recovery method that we prefer being shorthanded, is called the “Crash Stop” or “Quick Stop”. It works in almost all situations and requires only one crew member and no sail trimming. Learn about the MOB Quick Stop Maneuver.

Parking Your Catamaran in Emergency

Parking the boat is an effective method for stopping anywhere and holding station, much like heaving-to in a monohull. Deep reef your main sail, drop the traveler all the way to leeward, and sheet the mainsheet hard in. Secure your helm so the rudders are pushing the boat into the wind. The cat will sit on a close-hauled course, drifting sideways at about ½ knot. This is great if you need a break from very harsh conditions or a squall. The motion will be smooth and will give you time to regroup or effect repairs if necessary.

FYI: If you own a Lagoon, Leopard or Fountain Pajot, you don’t necessarily have to have a sail built for your boat. There are pre-owned sails available to be purchased at a fraction of the cost.

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> > Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on Cruisers Forums. 19-05-2003, 17:21   Boat: boat less ATM vanes on catamarans? Are they possible? 20-05-2003, 01:45   Boat: FP Belize 43 cat (2001) on a and I have plans to buy that for my cat when I need it. I don't have the link to the info now - maybe some of the other members can find some info for you? Cheers! Jaques Cousteau 23-05-2003, 06:40   , . I think their URL is multihullmag.com but not sure. The was manufactured in Great Britian. You can the folks ther at mag and they will furnish you an answer. They're great at providing info on past issues etc and anything else . auterygd 23-05-2003, 10:13   Boat: It’s in French Polynesia now .........................._/) 27-05-2003, 13:07   Boat: boat less ATM vane site that deals with multihulls. Unfortuanately I suddenly realised the difficulties okf a wind vane on my cat - the hangs from the targa that holds the , and . The would be in the way and the targa also would be in the way. Back to the drawing board. " 13-07-2003, 16:02   Boat: 38' FP Catamaran; Hobie Mirage Tandem Island on several cats. They were all mounted on the starboard "swim platform". That did take up all of the space on that side, but most cats have one on the port side as well. Since it is off to the side, it does not interfere with dinghy . I do not know how well they . My FP-38 was in by Mitch. If you would like, I can forward the e-mail w/ attached drawings and photos. Send me your e-mail address. Steve Hill 16-12-2008, 16:20   Boat: Kennex 38 catamaran while motoring, dodgy sailing downwind. autopilots use very little . I sailed to and back using . Just take backup units. 16-12-2008, 19:51   Boat: boat less ATM , input has improved, and I DO LOVE sailing downwind. We do not have a problem with keeping up with needs as we are fairly minamalistic. But theanks for the reply Paul " 17-12-2008, 22:57   Boat: Spirited 380 Catamaran reacts very quickly to wind changes and hence the variability of the apparent wind. If the cat starts to up wind, the wind vanes tries to turn it down wind, the cat accelerates, the apparent wind moves forward, the vane reacts by turning down wind and so on and so no. Electric autopilots are the way. 18-12-2008, 02:23   vanes won't work very well. You can have the same apparent wind angle for a wide range of true wind angles. Downwind there may not be much apparent wind at all. On slower cats they would probably work fine. 18-12-2008, 03:42   Boat: Jarcat 5, 5m, Mandy lure (without the hook) to change the attack as the speed increased. I abandoned the idea as I didn't like the thought of suddenly losing direction with a strike. I guess I could have left the hook on and organised the to round up into the wind if I caught a . I may still give it a go on my next . My present one is too easy to at speed. Downwind, on a fast boat, the wind shifts would make it pretty useless. Possibly just set up some pulling sail such as a or kite and be dragged downwind 22-12-2008, 03:49   Boat: Hanse 371 He lives aboard his 465 " Thalassa " He choose for the German Windpilot : Greetz, Koen 22-12-2008, 04:46   Boat: Kennex 38 catamaran continuously. I had 2 golf cart and 2 cells (85 watt). I never had to run the . I used the , and (monitoring 16) continuously, the tri-color all night. The with guard zone also ran 24-7, but was on automatic cycle where it ran for 90 seconds every 10 minutes. Also, I used the about an hour each day. I did not use the electric fridge. 22-12-2008, 05:35   Boat: Jon Sayer 1-off 46 ft fract rig sloop strip plank in W Red Cedar a German "Wind-Pilot" model for Insatiable II (a fairly quick cruising mono), but the proprietor of the company sent us a strong warning about the inherent dangers, and we opted out. (Incidentally, I was very impressed by his candor and honesty.) Now, a few years and 30k miles later, I still wish we had one, not for surfing conditions, but primarily for sailing to windward. Now, I know that you multihullers don't often do this, but it seems like we often do, and our autopilot really isn't very good at it, even in "apparent wind mode". Considering the difficulties in organizing one on a cat, it probably isn't worth the cost and effort... what a shame! Good luck with it all, mate! Cheers, Jimand Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Gladstone Qld, Oz 16-04-2015, 18:47   Boat: Foutain Pajot, Lipari 41 to catch undisturbed wind at any given course. My Navpilot611 from supports the WIND MODE, i.e. provides the same function then a wind vane. Yes, it needs power. However, above the I have 3x275W beside a D400 wind turbine, i.e. I'm never short of power. The only issue may be wear and tear of the mechanism. Once I had the situation that one got stuck. I simply detached the rod between the two rudders and still sailed over 1000 miles with only one rudder. Besides the roominess, that is the aspect of a , many things are double and redundant to a certain extend. Thread Tools Rate This Thread : Posting Rules post new threads post replies post attachments edit your posts is are code is are are are Similar Threads Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post General Info: Gisle Fountaine Pajot 187 10-03-2012 19:00 Stede General Sailing Forum 105 10-12-2008 10:11 james309 Multihull Sailboats 11 20-07-2004 06:33 Sonosailor Electrical: Batteries, Generators & Solar 5 16-10-2003 15:18 irwinsailor Electrical: Batteries, Generators & Solar 0 27-02-2003 10:36 - - - - - - - Privacy Guaranteed - your email is never shared with anyone, opt out any time. Yachting World Digital Edition How new-age sailing autopilot systems are putting computers at the helm July 14, 2020 Rupert Holmes takes a detailed look at the current state-of-the-art autopilot sailing systems and investigates what the future holds François Gabart uses leading edge autopilot technology from Madintec. Photo: Vincent Curutchet / ALeA / MACIF A couple of decades ago I’d have recommended anyone planning an ocean crossing without a big crew to fit wind vane self-steering. Yet in the past five years I’ve sailed more than 20,000 miles, including multiple trips to the Azores and a transatlantic race, relying solely on electronic pilots whether double-handed or solo. This change is also borne out by the few yachts taking part in the ARC that are still seen with wind vane steering systems. So what has changed in the intervening time? And what can we expect in the next few years? Firstly, electronics have become much more reliable. We also have many more ways of generating the electricity needed to run them. Most yachts set up for sailing longer distances are therefore no longer primarily reliant on the main engine for charging batteries thanks to solar, hydrogenerators, fuel cells and so on. B&G’s Triton 1 pilot control pad and display Finally, compared to the total cost of preparing a yacht for long-distance sailing , fitting a second pilot that’s not reliant on the boat’s main instrument databus is not unduly expensive. If you think having such a back-up is overkill, it’s the approach most of the top short-handed offshore race boats take. And there’s no way they’d carry unwarranted extra weight. Nevertheless, it’s important to recognise that a back-up pilot is yet another item that needs to be maintained if it is to be relied on at sea. Today’s units will also steer a far more accurate course, even in very challenging conditions, than early models. If your pilot is close to a decade old the chances are a newer model will steer the boat more accurately. Yet very often the pilot computer of quality yachts only gets replaced when it malfunctions and I’ve seen many immaculately maintained boats from the 1980s and 1990s with their original equipment. It may have been top specification in its day, but new kit will be enormously better. Article continues below… How to set up your autopilot to sail faster, more comfortably and be more efficient Pip Hare explains how setting your autopilot to suit conditions will be faster, more comfortable and more efficient Can augmented reality really give us a vision of the future of sailing? Google’s mission statement is ‘to organise the world’s information.’ This almost impossibly ambitious declaration of intent underpins the technology giant’s… Even so, most pilots today are not as good as an alert and skilled crewmember. In offshore racing circles there has been debate about whether pilots should be allowed for fully crewed boats, as well as for short-handed competitors. As a two-handed and solo racer myself I’ve always said “bring it on”. Outside the realm of the top Class 40s , IMOCA 60s and Ultime trimarans , pilots today are not as fast as a human driver. The prevalence of two-handed boats with someone on the helm for the overwhelming majority of every offshore race is testament to that. RORC’s 2020 Notice of Race recognises this and permits the use of autopilots and wind vane steering for all competitors. Autopilot set-up and trimming To get the best results from most pilots you have to adjust the unit’s settings to suit both your boat and prevailing conditions. Yet this is often something that’s not well understood. For example, Navico CEO (and past Volvo Ocean Race CEO and skipper) Knut Frostad told me he interviewed dozens of boat owners about their electronics during an 18-month transatlantic cruise with his family on their Outremer 5X. Most units require users to tweak settings for different conditions One of the big surprises for him was the number of people who didn’t use pilots when shortening sail in difficult conditions, with many saying their unit wouldn’t cope. When he offered to help by looking at their settings, Frostad often found they were obviously incorrect, or were unchanged from factory default. In the racing world I’ve seen similar, including a new boat at the end of a RORC season with top of the range B&G kit, yet only a couple of very basic settings, such as depth and compass calibration, had been changed to suit the boat. The difference a properly set up pilot can make is huge. French solo racers talk in terms of ‘trimming the pilot’ in just the same way they talk about sail trim. When racing Figaro 2s British skipper Sam Matson, for instance, said he would often spend 20 minutes with the pilot after a course change to be sure the settings were optimally tuned so that it was steering as well as he could. We don’t need to go to that level when cruising , but it’s still important to understand how to get the best from the system on your boat. Alternatively, a more recent category of pilots, such as Raymarine’s Evolution series (see below), employ artificial intelligence and so don’t need settings to be adjusted by the user. System elements Pilot computer: The core of the system that takes inputs from the various sensors, calculates changes in rudder angle required and activates the drive unit to achieve these. Drive unit: The equipment that moves the rudder. This will vary depending on the type of boat and simply takes a 12V or 24V feed from the pilot computer. Pilot controller: The user interface, which usually includes an LCD display and sometimes a remote control. Sensors: These include rudder angle, wind speed and angle, plus a compass. Boat speed is also needed for true wind angle calculations. A gyro compass that senses the rate of turn, as well as the instantaneous heading, was often used but newer models have a solid-state 9-axis sensor that also measures heel, roll and pitch. These give more accurate data for radar overlays on chart plotters, including MARPA (Mini Automated Radar Plotting Aid) tracking of other vessels. For optimal performance the quality of wind data is important. Given the sensor is at the masthead it moves around a great deal in big seas causing peaks and troughs in the readings. Traditionally this has been dealt with by damping the signal – taking an average reading over a longer time period – but that’s not a good option if you want a quick pilot response. NKE gets around this with its High Resolution products that measure the boat’s motion, calculate the movement of the masthead and then uses this data to smooth the wind angle measurements in a process that takes only milliseconds. NKE says the extent to which this reduces rudder movement translates to a reduction in power consumption of up to 40%. B&G NAC-3 course computer B&G autopilots The company offers two levels of pilots. The NAC-3 Autopilot Computer is the basic model in the company’s Triton range that’s designed for boats over 33ft (10m). It takes inputs from the RF25 rudder angle sensor and Precision 9 compass. The latter is a solid-state unit with NMEA outputs for heading, rate of turn, pitch and roll. After calibration, heading accuracy is within 2°. The pilot computer for the high-end H5000 systems has many more inputs, modes and algorithms that can vastly improve the accuracy of steering, even in the most challenging conditions. Modes include Gust Response, Recovery and High Wind Response. The level of Gust Response is user selectable to control how aggressively the unit responds to an increase in heel. The Recovery function allows users to define how quickly the pilot responds to being knocked off course by waves or wind shifts. High Wind Response sees the boat bear away in sustained increases in wind speed – ideal when spinnaker reaching. Unlike the Triton model, the H5000 also has Economy, Normal and Sport modes. In the former the pilot needs to sense large environmental changes before increasing the response setting, whereas at the other end, Sport mode is most sensitive to changing conditions and needs smaller environmental changes before increasing the response setting. The H5000 pilot is a hugely powerful system, but time is needed to understand all the functions and which one is to best use in a particular circumstance. Even very experienced teams can struggle with these aspects. NAC-3 Autopilot Computer: £1,566 RF25 rudder angle sensor: £290 Precision 9 compass: £628 H5000 CPUs: £1,550-£3,862 H5000 pilot computer: £2,183 NKE autopilots This Lorient-based brand is not well known in the UK outside of the short-handed racing circuit, which it dominated for decades. NKE’s GyroPilot was developed in 1995 as the first ever unit to benefit from a gyro compass that can output the rate at which a yacht is turning as well as its instantaneous heading. The difference is dramatic, allowing the GyroPilot to safely steer a racing yacht downwind with the spinnaker set. The system has been much refined over the years. The current 3D Sensor, for instance, is an inertial measurement unit that measures the boat’s movement and orientation to provide accurate heading, roll and pitch, acceleration and turn rate data. The company’s Processor HR (High Resolution) and Pilot HR includes the motion reference unit for noise reduction of wind data mentioned earlier. It also benefits from further modes to improve performance in gusts and when surfing. NKE’s High Resolution Processor In gust mode the pilot will bear away during the gust, then luff up when the windspeed reduces, exactly as a human driver would when spinnaker-reaching in breezy weather. Surf mode deals with the boat’s acceleration on waves when sailing downwind, with the course adjusted to promote planing, again just like an experienced sailor. NKE pilots can also be pre-programmed with base settings for use in different conditions, using a matrix that covers running, reaching and close-hauled wind angles in light, medium and heavy airs. Examples of these settings appear to be fairly widely shared, especially among the French short-handed sailing community. Richard Palmer, who won last year’s RORC Transatlantic Race sailing his JPK 1010 Jangada double-handed with Jeremy Waitt, has used both a standard NKE GyroPilot and the latest HR systems. “The HR pilot certainly performs well sailing upwind to a wind angle, helped by the reduction in noise on the wind instruments,” he says. “The HR pilot is also more efficient in most conditions and therefore reduces power consumption. However it did require quite a lot of time and effort to set up. It’s not a simple ‘plug & play’ and we are still learning how to adjust the various settings for different conditions.” GyroPilot 2 Processor: €2,279 GyroPilot display (white): €1,063; GyroPilot display (carbon): €1,828 Regatta processor: €6,424 HR masthead wind sensor: From €1,444 Rudder angle sensor: €362 Garmin Reactor 40 controller Garmin autopilots The Reactor series of pilots is designed for both sailing and motor yachts. Both on the dock set up and commissioning at sea is required. After that there’s a user-adjustable gain setting and further parameters can be tweaked from the values calculated during the commissioning process to further improve performance. Reactor 40 Corepack (including 9-axis sensor): £1,459 GRF10 Rudder Feedback sensor: £200 Raymarine autopilots For many years autopilots have been able to ‘learn’ the sea state and therefore improve course keeping. Raymarine took this approach a long way further using artificial intelligence (AI) to create its Evolution range of pilot computers that don’t need human intervention to optimise settings for different conditions. These use AI expertise that was originally developed by Raymarine’s parent company FLIR Systems for use in the aerospace field. As well as not having complex parameters that need changing for different sailing conditions, these products also don’t need calibration – even the compass is plug and play. Nevertheless Race, Cruising and Leisure modes offer some user input in a manner that’s akin to some automatic cars that have economy, normal driving and sport modes. When it was first launched the system was thoroughly tested by the short-handed racing community, who worked with Raymarine to iron out a small number of bugs that were apparent when a boat was pushed very hard. Subsequent users therefore have the assurance that if caught out in extreme circumstances the system has been tested to the limit. Nevertheless, as with many other systems, it can struggle when attempting to sail deep downwind under spinnaker, especially in a quartering sea. EV-200 Sail system pack (excluding drive unit): £2,115 Raymarine’s Evolution pilot computer Leading-edge autopilot technology La Rochelle-based Madintec is pioneering the most advanced pilot systems imaginable, including custom solutions for foiling boats from GC32 catamarans to 30m Ultime trimarans. Ian Lipinski, winner of the Class 40 division in last year’s Transat Jacques Vabre, used a Madintec Madbrain pilot for the race. “As expected, the boat becomes magical from 25 knots of wind,” he reported after the finish. “She flies on the water and passes waves without slowing down. After we got out of the English Channel we never hand steered again and we beat the 24-hour distance record under autopilot!” The firm’s most exciting area of focus is clearly on its three-dimensional pilots for foiling boats. This field is developing rapidly given that after this year’s Vendée Globe race IMOCA 60s will be allowed T-foils on their rudders so they can fully fly. At the same time, more Mini 650s are now flying, following the ground-breaking work done by Lorient-based SEAir. The Madintec system controls both the rudders to keep the boat on course and the foils to maintain the correct ride height. This was the system used by François Gabart for his record-breaking 42-day solo circumnavigation on his Ultime trimaran MACIF . The future of autopilots Where will this technology eventually lead? While predicting the future is notoriously problematic, there are a number of clear trends that we can confidently expect to continue. Talking to Shirley Robertson for her excellent podcast last year, Gabart said we can be certain that non-stop round the world times will continue to fall, with the Ultimes able to spend a far greater proportion of the distance up on their foils, even when sailed single-handed. Automated ride height control is also spreading to other parts of the foiling sphere and Gabart expects these systems to benefit from accelerated refinement at the Artemis sailing simulator in Slough, UK. But what does this mean for cruising sailors? At a basic level, improved pilots with better algorithms and more data inputs will steer existing designs of cruising yacht more efficiently, even in demanding conditions, and without the complex tweaking of settings that is currently often needed. Importantly, accurate steering also increases a boat’s comfort at sea. The reduced motion is less tiring, less liable to create seasickness and should minimise accidents on board. Looking further ahead it gets far more exciting. The work that companies such as Madintec are pioneering for three dimensional pilot systems for IMOCA 60s, Ultime trimarans and others will also open up the prospect of foiling cruising multihulls that don’t require a team of world-class sailors to handle them. Granted, these boats would likely need to slow down to Archimedes mode in certain conditions. Sailing from Lanzarote with Giovanni Belgrano on his foiling MOD70 Maserati , it was clear the Atlantic swells on the day I was on board were too close together for the boat to perform at its best. We still occasionally touched 38 knots of boat speed, but with Maserati repeatedly ploughing into the wave ahead, dropping off the foils in huge clouds of spray, with more than 10 knots knocked off our speed each time. By contrast, an ultra-fast cruising yacht could take it easy on such days and still be sailing fast. With the benefit of today’s weather forecasting for the most part such a boat would have plenty of opportunity to skirt weather systems, staying largely in favourable conditions. First published in the June 2020 edition of Yachting World. 286 IMAGES Wind vane self-steering system Windvane Self Steering for Wharram Catamarans Fleming wind vane yacht steering The Windvane Windvane Self Steering Wind vane self steering from Mister Vee VIDEO Seawind 1600 Steering Upgrade Sail Life #short ..self steering wind vane prototype Catalina 34 with Electronic Controlled Windvane Rotary Vane Steering Gear Ship Rudder/Penggerak Kemudi Kapal Model Rotary #steering #rudder #ship My 'Build-Your-Own' Catamaran Gets A DIY Steering System COMMENTS Hydrovane Self Steering Windvane Golden Globe Update Day 113: [GGR Leader Jean-Luc Van Den Heede sailing the Rustler 36 Matmut] was full of praise for his Hydrovane self-steering. "In a gale it has a big advantage because it is not steering the boat's rudder, but has its own. This little rudder is far more efficient than the big rudder.". - Jean Luc Van Den Heede on ... Wind Vane Self Steering: The Ultimate Guide A wind vane self steering system is an invaluable piece of equipment that allows sailors to maintain course without having to constantly adjust their sails or helm. This automated system harnesses the power of the wind to steer the boat, freeing up valuable time and energy for sailors to focus on other important tasks. Hebridean self-steering wind vane The Hebridean wind vane is an innovative version of the tried and tested servo-pendulum self steering system for sailing boats steered by tiller or wheel. The Hebridean has crossed Atlantic and Pacific oceans but is also quick and easy to mount for weekend coastal sailing or jaunts across the Channel, Minch or other strait/sea. Stern freeboard. Windvane steering: why it makes sense for coastal cruising As the vane moves it will adjust the steering accordingly. In heavy weather, reduce the system's power to ensure the least amount of strain. Self-steering systems work efficiently in strong winds but most will steer comfortably in light airs as well. Course adjustments. When the wind vane is vertical, you are on course. Build Your Own Self-Steering Windvane Let's start with building the trim tab. The trim tab should be somewhere around 10 to 15 percent of the area of the rudder. We decide on the correct diameter of shaft for the blade. In my case this was a 5/8″ diameter stainless steel shaft. We then drill several (say four) holes to take through-bolts which will hold the wooden blade to the ... Wind Vane Steering: A Comprehensive Guide Short answer: Wind vane steering Wind vane steering, a mechanical self-steering system, uses a wind vane to maintain the desired course of a sailing vessel. The wind's pressure on the vane adjusts the boat's rudder, allowing it to stay on track even when unmanned or during long voyages. How Wind Vane Steering Works: Understanding the The Windvane A wind vane, or weather vane, is a device used to measure the direction of the wind. It consists of a weather-resistant material, usually metal, a central spindle, weight-bearing spinning vanes, and an arrow or similar indicator. As the wind blows, the vane begins to spin, causing the arrow to point in the direction of the wind. Self-Steering—with No Strings Attached Auto Steer: This system, made in England, is easily adapted to boats with outboard rudders. Through a simple acetal-plastic and silicon-bronze universal linkage, the horizontal-axis sensor vane connects to a custom-sized trim tab made of wood and stainless steel attached to the boat s rudder. The Auto Steer trim-tab vane is made of LM25 ... Why You Need a Wind Vane for Your Sailboat Photo Kindly Provided by: Scanmar International, Inc. Mechanical wind vane systems are relatively simple in concept. Once mounted at the boat's transom or somewhere along the stern, wind prompts the elevated vane to adjust the rudder or wheel steering system, putting your sailboat back on a wind-based course dictated by the captain. Sorting Out Self-Steering Options In a second installment next month, we'll review alternative windvane designs, including trim-tab and auxiliary-rudder systems. Servo-pendulum vanes can be broken down into three main components: the sensor vane, the pendulum rudder, and the linkages. The sensor vane is the brains of the self-steering system, but it needs apparent wind to work. Wind Vane self steering systems This video explains, in simple terms, how wind vane self-steering systems work on yachts and sailboats. The video follows an easy flow from auxiliary rudder ... How it works: Self-steering Windvane Then the angle of the wind hits the vane from either the right or the left hand side. It then pushes the wind vane to either of those two sides agains a small counterweight that sits beneath the pivot of the vane. When this happens, the left-right swinging movement of the windvane is translated into the rotation of a cogwheel. Sarah Curry: Guide to wind vane steering Sarah Curry advises how best to use a wind vane steering system. The overall concept is simple: a non-electric device mounted on the boat's transom has a vane that takes a signal from the wind. Based on this input, the boat is steered - by various mechanisms - on the apparent wind-based course you set. The beauty of an apparent wind-based ... Windvane Selfsteering Windvane self-steering options fall into two categories, servo pendulum and auxiliary rudder. Servo pendulum solutions utilize your boat's own rudder and as the name suggests, auxiliary rudder products work with a separate, independent rudder system. We believe servo-pendulum systems like the Monitor are usually your best option. They are ... A Guide to Equipping Your Boat with a Windvane The deviation of this vane by the wind when the boat goes off course activates a series of mechanical gearing or levers to achieve the desired course correction. Trim Tab Steering A trim tab windvane, less commonly seen by major manufacturers today, was the forerunner of the modern windvane system and works by affixing a small "trim tab" to ... Hydrovane® The Hydrovane Self-Steering Windvane is both a mechanical self-steering windvane for offshore sailboats and an emergency rudder. order now. With our Hydrovane® wind-control systems, we offer a combination of wind-vane control and an always-ready emergency rudder, suitable for every stern. Off-centre assembly, even for modern yachts with ... Other Kits and Plans Windvane Self Steering. The purpose of a wind-vane self steering device is to allow the skipper to do something other than sitting at the helm. While this is not practical for most un-ballasted small sailboats, a self steering device is an essential tool for the cruising sailor. Graham has been testing the wind vane on his Core Sound 17 Mark 3 ... Windvane Self Steering for Wharram Catamarans Item Details: Detailed drawings of how to build a low-cost wind self-steering system for your Wharram catamaran, mainly out of wood. Gives different set-ups for Classic, Pahi and Tiki designs. Based on the system that sailed Pahi 63 'Spirit of Gaia' round the world. Wind vane steering on catamaran? Re: Wind vane steering on catamaran? Lots of examples. So long as your cat isn't particularly prone to accelerating through puffs or readily surfs the vane should be fine. The abrupt changes in speed make a vane less desirable on faster boats where the apparent wind will shift a lot. Multihulls Catamarans The wind vane functions well as the steering impulse generator as long as the wind strength and angle remain constant. It is no good in gusty weather or if the wind strength is variable because the windvane system will snake all over the place. ... used to furnish the steering impulses. This 15m/48 ft catamaran moored off Las Palmas sailed ... Downwind Sailing on a Cruising Catamaran Autopilot Wind Vane for Downwind Sailing on a Catamaran. When sailing with finicky sail configurations like the ones above, be sure to put your autopilot on wind vane mode and set the wind angle as a priority. ... If the helm is overpowered and the steering is hard to control when you steer, the autopilot will have the same difficulty keeping a ... Wind vanes on catamarans?? Join Date: Sep 2008. Location: Hervey Bay, Queensland. Boat: Spirited 380 Catamaran. Posts: 91. From what I have heard over the years, windvanes do not work well on cats as they rely on a steady apparent wind and a multihull reacts very quickly to wind changes and hence the variability of the apparent wind. How new-age sailing autopilot systems are putting computers at the helm A couple of decades ago I'd have recommended anyone planning an ocean crossing without a big crew to fit wind vane self-steering. Yet in the past five years I've sailed more than 20,000 miles ... catamaran gulet motorboat riverboat sailboat trimaran yacht