HydroVane/Monitor Wind Vane

[Hayden Watson]

I've only done sheet to tiller but I do have a vague recollection of someone on this forum posting a diagram for a wheel system that they claim worked well... and in theory it should. Here is a sketch of what I recall. May need some tweaking to get it to work. As I think about the mechanics, I think you could eliminate the second block for the wheel version if you made the attachement point (for the line leading to the sheet) at the bottom of the wheel instead of the top of the wheel.

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I havfe always thought this would work but have never tried it. You are correct that if you make the attachment point to the bottom of the wheel, it will be rigged the same as a tiller.

I have had some tiller captains on board who could not get the feel of steering with a wheel. I tell them to hold the wheel low (below the axle) and steer like it is a tiller. Works every time right up till they forget and put their hand back on the top of the wheel, so I need to keep an eye on them.

 

[dLj]

I havfe always thought this would work but have never tried it. You are correct that if you make the attachment point to the bottom of the wheel, it will be rigged the same as a tiller.

I have had some tiller captains on board who could not get the feel of steering with a wheel. I tell them to hold the wheel low (below the axle) and steer like it is a tiller. Works every time right up till they forget and put their hand back on the top of the wheel, so I need to keep an eye on them.

I've spent most of of sailing life with tiller boats - I still prefer them, but my current boat has a wheel. I confess, I took me quite some time to get used to running with a wheel. I never heard of running it by holding the bottom of the wheel - too late to do it now, I'm fully accustomed but a very interesting trick!

dj

 

[rgranger]

Very cool! Sure would be an inexpensive way to get self steering. I wonder how well it works down wind - the difficult point of sail for any wind vane - and how well it works in gusty wind conditions. Thoughts?
dj

My gut tells me it would not work very well on a dead-downwind run. Here is why I think that... the way it works is to take advantage of a boats weather helm. Most boats want to roundup as the wind pipes up. So you get your tiller set using the steering-line (SL) from the sheet and the bungee cords (BC) and you fiddle with the tension on SL and BC until your boat steers true. When a gust hits your jib the boat will want to turn to port (in the diagram above) but the jib sheet will also tense in the gust and pull on the SL and steer the boat back on course.

I don't see how you can get that interplay between the jib sheet and the SL on a run.... On a run your jib sheet is already outboard as much as it can go and when your round up the sheet will slack instead of stiffen.

 

[rgranger]

Works every time right up till they forget and put their hand back on the top of the wheel, so I need to keep an eye on them.

Oh I'm guilty of that. I find wheel steering very counter intuitive.

I havfe always thought this would work but have never tried it.

You don't have to spend any money to give it a try. The time I tried it I got a cheap pully from Lowes (that I already had in my shed)... grabbed a few bungees (also from the shed) and a piece of scrap line that had once belonged to the roller furler. I tied the pully and bungees to the rail and tied it all off ... then my daughter and I fished for 6 hours while the boat sailed across the pamlico sound. Every now and again, I would look at the compas and if I was a few degrees off... I would play with the tension of the bungee cords. If I recall corectly, I had the bungee wrapped around a cleat on the rail. So making adjustments was quick and easy. You can keep all the parts in a bucket and toss the bucket into a cockpit locker.

Just like hove-to every boat is different in how it behaves. I would encourage you to try it and play with it and see how it works on your boat.

 

[rgranger]

I tell them to hold the wheel low (below the axle) and steer like it is a tiller.

This is what I do when I am backing a trailer. I put my hand on the bottom of the wheel and move my hand in the direction I want the rear of the trailer to go.

 

[jssailem]

With these new fangled spade rudders and fin keels, the boats have become so twitchy that even when the sail rig is balanced the slightest wind puff shift, breeze gust, or out of sync wave will knock the boat off course. Then the next thing you know your either broaching or back winding in irons.

 

[rgranger]

With these new fangled spade rudders and fin keels,

NEW FANGLED!?

Spade rudders gained popularity in the mid-1960's and fin keels in the early 1930's. Dude! How old are you?

 

[jssailem]

Not sure… My age does not change the fact that the boats now do not balance well on their own.