Clipper wind instrument

Stu Jackson · Nov 16, 2015

Matt, I sailed for the first 16 of my 33 years owning boats without one. I have one on our boat now and hardly ever use it, except for sometimes checking apparent wind speed, but only when it's very light or very heavy. I can estimate the true wind based on the water waves (even counting for wind over ebb - sometimes!

).

The extension cable accessory seems to have bare wires (two) at the ends, so it seems it can be easily spliced.

Good luck.

centerline · Nov 16, 2015

I have one also..... along with the Clipper Duet, speed & depth indicator, which I recently had to replace the transducer.
they all seem to work like they should.
the boat was outfitted with them when I purchased it.

Scott T-Bird · Nov 16, 2015

That is a low price ... many people seem to think the wind instrument is not essential, and if that is your feeling, I guess it can't hurt to install a low priced instrument such as this one. You don't have that much to lose if it doesn't last or somehow fails to function perfectly. I really like having a wind instrument for a variety of reasons and find it an important investment. Personally, I would probably be skeptical of the quality solely based on the price and I would not buy one for my boat. I have Simrad for our boat.But the price isn't always an indicator of quality. Why not give it a try?
I adapted a 6 prong plug for the deck connection inside the mast rather than using the splice box which was provided and intended to be mounted inside the cabin.

Joe · Nov 17, 2015

Bad Obsession said:
Has anyone heard of or installed one of these?
http://www.starmarinedepot.com/clipper-wind-instrument-w/masthead-transducer-&-cover.html

That looks interesting and the price is good.

Another question...Can you make the cable have a plug at the base of the mast for when you take the mast up and down (I take the mast down on my Compac 23 every winter).

It is what it is and it doesn't really say much in the description.... Before you buy it.... download the installation and operation manual.. If it will interface with NMEA 0183/2000 or Seatalk... Then that's a huge plus.... making it more that a glorified wind vane....

Even if you don't care about the network.... check to see if you can use the gps or speed log with the device so it will calculate TRUE wind speed and direction... There are a number of low price devices that will do that. Here's one that has NMEA 0183 input/output, various display option and it will calculate App/True data. http://www.marinemegastore.com/product.asp?pf_id=PLA_40637&jump=0&cat_id=ELEINS008

Today's conversion rate prices this unit at 349.71

You it is no problem to splice in a deck plug, available at most any chandlery, unless you are color blind.

Scott T-Bird · Nov 17, 2015

It doesn't look like the Navman in that advertisement includes the masthead sensor unit. I'd be careful about that. I think you'd have to check the box from "alone" to "complete" to get the price at about $675 (converted to dollars).
The Clipper is the lowest price unit that I've seen that includes the sensor.

gr8_2_av8 · Nov 18, 2015

What about this. Www.sailtimerwind.com

Joe · Nov 19, 2015

Scott T-Bird said:
It doesn't look like the Navman in that advertisement includes the masthead sensor unit. I'd be careful about that. I think you'd have to check the box from "alone" to "complete" to get the price at about $675 (converted to dollars).
The Clipper is the lowest price unit that I've seen that includes the sensor.

I couldn't either.... here's a pretty good deal .. and it will work with SimNet or NMEA 0183. http://www.starmarinedepot.com/simrad-is20-sailboat-package.html
The NavMan unit is discontinued... think the line was purchased by someone else...

BTW I did look at the Clipper wind instrument manual... and it DOES NOT integrate with other instruments in any way... It does not have the facility to read speed data from any source, gps or log, in order to calculate true wind direction and true wind speed. http://www.nasamarine.com/images/Clipper Wind.pdf

Jackdaw · Nov 19, 2015

I had Clipper wind and GPS speed mounted on my old First 235. They came from another 235 that I bought (and then resold) from an English guy; they were uninstalled an still in the box. They had big cutouts but NASA makes a mast box that I bought to mount them on the mast.

There were decent quality by functionally just OK. Biggest issue was wind was apparent only, making kind of like an electronic windex. To get TRUE wind you need NEMA in, which they do not have. It does have NMEA out, but that does not help you if you want true. Seemed accurate enough, but my British friends say the mast-top but is prone to failure, maybe more so in their big breeze. Mine worked OK, but I only had the boat for another year.

Jackdaw · Nov 19, 2015

FYI, close-up of masthead install.