Self steering

[rfrance0718]

Has anyone used wind vane steering on smaller boat? I just got the plans and instructions for building one. It looks like it would be appropriate for my boat as it is designed for transom hung rudders. I have a tiller pilot which doesn't work well with a following sea. From the videos wind vane looks like it has a more immediate response, while the tiller pilot has a delay.

Mark III design from Wave Rover

Any thoughts?

[Brian N.]

Dave Gerr in his book "The Nature of Boats" describes a simple self steering setup. Personally, I use a bungee setup that works well for short periods under moderate conditions. Wind vane systems might be worth it for cruisers under sail for long periods, but to me seems overly complicated for small boats.

[Doug SC]

B&B Yacht Design video of their wing vane on a core 17. I have no experience with one but have an interest in them. Have you tried sheet to tiller steering with bungees? I have been meaning to give that a try on my Potter 19.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmvGynZa7F0&t=84s

[rfrance0718]

I do some longer sails, some more than 24 hours, by myself, so really need self steering. I have used sheet to tiller steering and I found that it worked well upwind, but wouldn't work off the wind. Later, I found out that when sailing upwind, and even close reaching, I could lock the tiller in the middle, and as long as the wind was heavy enough to cause some heal, the boat will steer itself all day.

On a reach the boat develops a lot of helm. In that case I can move the center of effort forward  with a reefed main, or no main at all, and a full 150 jib. That works until the waves get bigger.

I tuned the rig to balance the boat upwind but figure that going any further forward with the center of effort would produce Lee helm upwind, and I don't want that. (Going further forward would require shortening my forestay. I will replace it with a shorter one at some point and see what does happen)

It looks to me like the wind vane will react faster than the tiller pilot.

My goal this year is to improve the boats heavy air habits. I'm good going upwind if it cranks up to 30, but need improvements off wind.

[Wolverine]

B&B Yacht Design video of their wing vane on a core 17. I have no experience with one but have an interest in them. Have you tried sheet to tiller steering with bungees? I have been meaning to give that a try on my Potter 19.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmvGynZa7F0&t=84s

I didn't know they produced a wind steering system.  They are only 15 minutes from me.  I need to stop in and have a chat.

[Travis Chapman]

I didn't find a specific post, but a search on Google may work. I've long been a reader of Bob at Boatbits and he has many references to open source wind vane resources. At hos recommendation I bought a DIY windvane book some years ago that also had some ideas to experiment with.

https://boatbits.blogspot.com/

Maybe something in there to explore over the winter!

[Doug SC]

I came across this video of a fairly simple wind vane. It might be of interest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixkAeYejn_w

[rfrance0718]

I did see the above video and found it very informative. Below is a video of the design that I bought the plans for. Both videos show boats with transom hung rudders and utilize trim tabs attached to the existing rudder. You will notice a difference in how the actual vanes operate. The one in Doug's video rotates, or pivots with the wind direction, while the vane in my video flops one way or the other as pressure on the two faces changes. I'm thinking that the latter design provides more torque to transfer to the tab as gravity comes into play. Maybe, maybe not. Many of the designs are said to not work well in light air. I'm good with that as my tiller pilot is fond of that condition.

I also got a kick out of the Bay Rover videos. The narrator sold his Contessa 26 after several crossings and home built a 20 foot plywood boat. (on which  he installed the same steering system) At any rate, before the build he said that the idea was to do more gunkholing and only short ocean passages. I guess he thinks that U.S. to Ireland is short!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_HRMRjofpA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqawS-OoeMs

In the second video it appears that he's dragging a line to help settle the boat in a following sea. Warp?