My Hydrovane Video

On the Hydrovane website they claim that people have almost no problems making the Hydrovane work right from the very start. I was sceptical. The very first time I set it up I picked a bad moment - just as I locked off the wheel a Coastguard boat came thundering up from nowhere and I freaked so switched back to hand steering, but once it had gone and the wash had died away I tried again and to my utter amazement it just worked, exactly like they predicted. I was overjoyed and amazed.And I still think the Hydrovane is the most marvellous bit of equipment on the boat. There is a learning curve though, because there are settings which you can vary and I am still in the process of learning and working out what settings work best in what conditions.So heres a video I took with my ordinary Canon digital camera in March 2009 when I was returning to Sydney from Port Stephens. The wind and sea were from behind and I rolled away the headsail because running wing on wing without a Pole is a drag - and something I havent learned to do yet - but boat speed was hardly affected. 6 knots is a respectable speed for Sapphire.