Hand held wind speed - weather

[Skipper]

With masthead wind sensors and mounted displays running $1,000 plus and requiring difficult (or expensive) installation, the hand held instrument category is becoming slightly more interesting. Some of these instruments include comprehensive weather data, making their sailing usage even more compelling.

Sans obvious drawbacks regarding visibility and lack of wind direction indication, if you have this type of instrument, please comment on:

1. Mounting, if you have been able to do so, how, where and is it readily removable.
2. Best manufacturer for functionality and durability (Davis, Kestrel, etc.)
3. Power connection, if any.
4. Any other usefulinformation.

Thanks,

 

[letterman]

Stay away from KESTREL...all the numbers are written in German and you won't be able to read it. Bear in mind, all mast mounted wind instruments are made for boats over 30 feet. Look and see if you have a reef line too. The wind speed indicator will NOT work on a boat without that feature. See, under 30 feet, i5 really doesn't matter what the wind speed is. Kind of like riding a tricycle...see, in rainy, snowy, dry conditions you won't tip over inb theseconditions. But just try riding a bicycle on ice. WHUMP...over you go. Same for boats. Under 30, no need. Above 30, well, thats big boy stuff and you better have accurate data.

 

[Capt. Kermie]

Anemometers

I have a little SkyMate Wind Indicator I received for a Christmas gift one year. I believe it is battery operated. It has a lanyard and I can wear it around my neck and hold it up for an instant appearant reading. Provided the boat is fairly still and I have it pointed directly into the eye of the wind I can get a decent wind reading plus it gives me temperature and wind chill factor in Ferenheight and celsius plus it reads wind speed both in knots and MPH. They are nice little novelty and great for reassuring my wife that it is not blowing as hard as she thinks it is. If used regularly with your wife you can always prove to her that it is not as windy as she thinks it is and you can always say 'but dear, according to this reading you have been out in gustier conditions before':dance:

 

[Bill Roosa]

instriment location

While I can't get you a great deal on the instruments I would note that there is no requirement to mount them on the mast head. In fact in light airs it can be a liability with the mast moving much faster then the wind due to wave action. You can mount the speed and direction on a mast near the helm! And when some one asks why yours is different from the others you can say you did your research and decided not to pay the extra money and maintenance hassle just so you could be like the rest of the world.
I know that if the boat had not come with the things stuck up there I would not have installed them on the mast head. Some reasons that come to mind right off the top of my head:
Maintenance and going up the mast
Lightning damage
Wind speed and direction down low is more important than up high. Just look at the amount of sail you have at the mast head vs the amount at the boom!
Installation cost and hassle

 

[Brian D]

I have two anemometers that I use. One is that little yellow thing that you have to point into the wind to get a reading. Fine, but I don't like doing that. Just a waste of time.

The other is one that captures the wind 360°. The link is: http://www.novalynx.com/200-960.html A little on the expensive side but it is fast and has a standard tripod thread in the bottom of the unit. It was really designed for ballooning. Nice unit.

 

[Tricia]

handheld windmeter

I bought a Windtronic handheld windmeter off Ebay. Can't remember who the seller was. I love it: it's simple to use and you don't have to hold it facing directly into the wind to get an accurate reading. Has a beaufort scale as well. It's just a windmeter, but a good one.

 

[javaprog]

Wind instruments are so expensive!..., especially if you have to drop the mast to run the wiring. My old Standard Horizon wind instrument isn't working so I've spent some time on this subject. I actually kicked around the idea of trying a cheap wireless weather station like the ones listed here: http://www.ambientweather.com/wiwestshra11.html
There are drawbacks that aren't apparent with this solution however: 1) resolution of wind direction is usually only 16 points or around 22 degrees 2) the wind sataus is only set every 30 seconds or so and 3) the base is not made for outdoor use or mounting. Still, it would be nice to have all of the other weather info on a boat in my opinion.

As for a hand-held... I may be going that route too!

 

[Ross]

I have and use a Kestrel and have found that the german numbers look just like the numbers I learned in an american grade school as does all of the text. After using is for 2 or 3 seasons and comparing it to the appearance of the water I just pull it out now and then to confirm my observations. It hangs on a lanyard and probably has a battery in there someplace.

 

[Brian D]

The Novalynx and Windtronics units are identical. Just different names on the box. I think the Kaindl is also the same unit. So anyone of these and you should be good to go.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Any other useful information?

What size boat do you have and where do you sail? Do you race? Reason I ask is that we have a masthead unit on our boat, it came with the boat. But to reflect letterman's point, we'd been sailing on 22 and 25 foot boats for many, many years without one, so we find that the wind speed is NOT one of our important "indicators." Since you haven't explained just why you think you need one, this is my experience. Since we sail on San Francisco Bay, we're pretty certain what the wind speeds will be during the summer (0 goes to 30 within minutes between 1200 and 1300 each afternoon) and the winter's are flukey. I find that decisions for sail selection and reefing are made based on boat handling, not wind speed.

 

[Skipper]

Thanks for all the info,
Stu: I have been sailing many thousands of miles, always guessing at the wind speed to relay sea conditions and idle chatter with fellow skippers.
I have raced but rarely.
Boat is light and fast but very stable. Can be sailed in moderately strong winds and choppy seas without much fuss. Have sailed in (I think) 25 knot steady winds with associated well developed seas. Requires depowering then reefing soon, however wind variations and increases are slow and predictable in this area of So Cal.

Main reason is i just want to know what the speed is and its relation to the boat's handling and sail management performed in the past. Also, I like gadgets, if they are at least useful and don't clutter the boat or get in the way.

 

[Ray T]

I raced for years on the Chesapeake on my Cal 227 without a wind indicator, never felt the need for one. I Always felt simpler was better. I usually flew my largest Genny 155% until I had trouble handling the boat and then maybe I would reduce sail. If I didn't reduce sail it was because the downwind leg was coming up. Ray T

 

[rpwillia]

I have a Skymate handheld as we as a Raymarine ST60 mounted on the mast. Love the Raymarine and use it all the time. Most folks here are correct you don't need it to race, but it is nice to know what the wind speed was for bragging purposes. Plus you get to know on different points of sail what speed you should be able to expect your boat to do. My skymate always has a dead battery and they are those ones smaller than a dime and always die out. If you are just curious why not just go for one of those $200 weather stations. That should also be able to give you a lot of extra data like weather prediction, or for the true techie the amount of rain you have gotten on your boat.

 

[Don12364]

Wind speed at the masthead is 30%-50% higher than at deck level.

 

[javaprog]

If you are just curious why not just go for one of those $200 weather stations. That should also be able to give you a lot of extra data like weather prediction, or for the true techie the amount of rain you have gotten on your boat.

This one would actually work pretty well if it weren't for the poor wind direction resolution of the LCD. http://www.ambientweather.com/61dawivaprow.html
Not to mention the ugly glob of instruments you'd have to mount. I wish there was a $300 version that excluded the rain gauge. The rain gauge is probably the only thing that wouldn't work very well. It would get slapped around too much.

Nice to haves:
Prediction based on barometric pressure (tides might fake this out)
Wind Chill
Heat Index
UV dose (with alarm) - "Put on sunscreen, idiot"
Wind gust alarm - "Reef Now!"
Wind direction trend - "Trim or steer?"

As for the handhelds the Kestrail 2500 looks interesting
As a novice sailor I would like to know the wind speed so I know if I'm sailing fast compared to the wind potential.

Unfortunatly none of this solves the problem of the dead gauge in the middle of the instrument cluster over the companion way. :cry:

 

[Capt. Kermie]

Naysayers are Borrriinng....

Naysayers.....my bad what are we going to do with you. Always raining on someones parade, perpetual black clouds, and pessimists.
Anemometers are cool gadgets like Skipper said and also as he said provide you with accurate data to pass along as idle chat for other skippers, conversation pieces. No doubt about it, they are cool. On return to the marina many other sailors always ask me 'how's it blowin out there?' and I can always give them an accurate wind speed. The marina I slip at also has a full blown technical weather station and with internet access one can get up to the minute weather conditions. They give you wind speed and direction, average wind speed, maximum wind speed, maximum gust all in the last hour and last 12 hours. I can compare my actual readings to the marina published data and get a fairly accurate idea as to what conditions are most favourable. After a couple seasons of doing this I can simply log on at home, view the marina weather data and given my personal past experience I can make a more informed decision before making the drive to the marina. The more data, the more informed a decision is. Any gadget or piece of equipment that provides extra data is an asset to any sailor and they are fun.
My battery on the Skymate has yet to go dead must be the eveready bunny.
I also have my own little 3 piece weather station that gives me temperature, barometric pressure & humidity which is helpful when cruising out of range of the wireless or broadband. Weather predictions are always good to have.

 

[Ross]

I have a weather rope hanging from a tree.
If the rope is wet, it is/has rained.
If the rope is moving it is windy.
If the rope is hanging straight out to the side it is very windy.
If the rope is wet and slippery we are getting freezing rain.
If I hear squeals and laughter coming from the vicinity of the rope the kids are using it for a swing.

 

[Skipper]

Sigh

I have a weather rope hanging from a tree.
If the rope is wet, it is/has rained.
If the rope is moving it is windy.
If the rope is hanging straight out to the side it is very windy.
If the rope is wet and slippery we are getting freezing rain.
If I hear squeals and laughter coming from the vicinity of the rope the kids are using it for a swing.

That's great Ross, but what will the rope be doing in 30 minutes? Hopefully it will be wrapped around your neck. (Trying to now recover from laughter fit due to exceptional humor)
I think if I hung a rope from the spreaders, I could learn to recognize the exact amount of movement that would indicate useable data to thoughtfully analyze environmental conditions and vessel handling and share with others.

Thanks to Kermie for better summarizing the need for wind\weather data, and to others for great links and ideas.

"Why" is not the question here. The question was:
Sans obvious drawbacks regarding visibility and lack of wind direction indication, if you have this type of instrument, please comment on:

1. Mounting, if you have been able to do so, how, where and is it readily removable.
2. Best manufacturer for functionality and durability (Davis, Kestrel, etc.)
3. Power connection, if any.
4. Any other useful information.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Great segue...

There was a time, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and Bill was young, that we didn't have electrons trained to tell us the wind speed, wind direction, depth, boat speed and certainly not our position. GADS, how did we do it? Surely we where supermen to dare to go to sea without such necessities. As I recall though, we did have our faces and eyes to tell us the wind direction and speed, some even had those high tech tell-tails on their sails (cheaters all). There was this knotted line that we used for measuring speed and another line with a weight and wax plug on the end to tell us the depth and bottom composition (still can't do the last with electrons BTW).

The PO of Bardi Sea installed all the bells and whistles but I find that the windex and my sense of feel are the primary means of determining the direction of the wind and it's speed. A windex gives a nice visual image of the set of the sail as I can compare the AOA of the sail head and the windex pointer. A check of the tail-tels confirms the sails are set right. I note that no amount of looking at my ST 6000 wind instruments can tell me that without my taking a look at the sails.

 

[Bill Roosa]

And back again

Most use the mast head because of its freedom from wind disruption and it not getting fouled in the sails.
All the manufacturers are decent. There is the data buss issue however. They all want you to buy their products and so have proprietary data buss formats. So you can't use Raymarine SeaTalk protocols on Marlin wind instruments. You need to pick a manufacturer and stick with them. So research ANY future upgrades you MIGHT want to make so there is a clear upgrade path without buying "their wind instruments to make it work". NMEA interfaces are a joke. While you may get them to work nobody supports them in a consistent fashion. Doing your homework here can pay dividends.
12 volts is 12 volts. Most of these full blown systems draw less than an amp so start looking for data bussed that also provide power.....(Raymarine does)
I can't think of any other useful info. Do your homework and lay your money down or embrace the horror of going up the mast. Most of the install kits are pretty easy to install with one hand. The other being used to hang on with.:dance: