One of the first big decisons I made was about self steering gear. Its a classic example of how I had to work out what works best for Sapphire and for me and what I wanted to do with her. After much reading and research on the net it was apparent that firstly if I was going to go cruising, self steering gear was vital. Secondly I learned that Self steering gear is either powered by electricity or by the wind, and the former appear to be the most popular, for example in the ARC (The famous Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) and on all the new boats exhibited on the net, in yachting mags and at the Boat Show. So I was pleased that Sapphire already has a wheel mounted electric autopilot, and its remarkably efficient and easy to use: when the boat is on the course you want simply pull down a lever to lock the pilots motor onto a sort of ring gear on the wheel and then push a button that turns the motor on. The motor is controlled from a unit that responds to changes in heading detected by its own compass and turns the wheel in little increments this way and that to maintain course. If you decide to alter your course by a few degrees push another button! Very easy but I could only take so much of the noise of the little motor mounted on the binnacle beside the wheel whirring this way and that.
A more important draw back with these devices, especially when mounted on smaller yachts, is their use of electricity. Large yachts, say over about 50 feet, seem to carry masses of battery power, and have huge motors to keep them charged or else plenty of space for solar cells to do the same thing, but smaller yachts have space and size limitations which to a greater or lesser extent restrict their capacity to support electrically powered devices of all kinds. And that includes autopilots which on an ocean passage might well be operating 24/7. I wanted to keep my dependance on battery power to a minimum, and the noise bugged me as well so I decided to investigate wind powered self steering gear - not that I was going to do away with the autopilot! It was brilliant for use in the harbour or for short intervals between frequent tacks and also when the wind speed was zero!
I was surprised at the variety and the number of different types. Basically the wind is used to either turn an auxilliary independent rudder or else to turn the boats own rudder via a variety of cables, ingenious mecanical levers and trim tabs, sometimes assisted by additional paddles that harness the power of the water. All these systems need to be strong and powerful but able to function in light as well as strong wind.
I eventually decided to purchase a Hydrovane. This is an auxilliary rudder that is completely independent of the boats usual steering gear, and therefore can double as a backup should there ever be a failure. That was one feature that I liked about it.
Another thing I liked about it was its remarkable simplicity. If you look at the diagrams of most of the competitors there are lots more linkages and hinges and mechanical bits and pieces, not to mention big frames attached to the stern of the boat - I felt Hydrovanes elegant simplicity was one of its strengths. The Hydrovane has the least number of moving parts and theyre all made of solid "316" stainless steel. I liked the Cape Horn device for similar reasons but decided against it because its not independent of the existing steering gear. I also liked the history of the Hydrovane,and the "family" nature of the business, the fact that a single engineer in Nottingham England - Geoff Town - has built every single one of them in the 36 years theyve been in business. And finally, the most important reason was that I loved the bright red wind vane, fantastically bold and visible. The major downside was its cost, about $7000 imported from England. When I finally made my decision and pressed send on the email to order it, I felt I had crossed the rubicon of my solo sailing adventure - now I was really committed.
The Hydrovane people were great. They kept me informed and up to date with my order which arrived in a few weeks in 5 sturdy timber boxes. For a number of weeks they lay open on the lounge room floor and I periodically would pick up the bits and marvel at the lovely finish and amazing engineering. I read and re read the instructions on how to attach it to the boat and how to make it work after that, and drew up a summary sheet and printed off some photos . Next, not being any sort of handyman myself I had to find a good shipwright to make the installation, and to do various other chores that were going to be needed. Adam Best at Balmain, was recommended to me by Peter Barker from the Balmain Cruising Club. Peter is currently on a solo circumnavigation in stages, at present nearly half way round on the US East Coast, and I spoke to him after attending a fascinating talk he gave about the first part of his journey. So I met Adam and gave him my notes and the instructions printed off the website and a couple of months later, when he had the time , the Hydrovane was installed.
I eventually decided to purchase a Hydrovane. This is an auxilliary rudder that is completely independent of the boats usual steering gear, and therefore can double as a backup should there ever be a failure. That was one feature that I liked about it.
Another thing I liked about it was its remarkable simplicity. If you look at the diagrams of most of the competitors there are lots more linkages and hinges and mechanical bits and pieces, not to mention big frames attached to the stern of the boat - I felt Hydrovanes elegant simplicity was one of its strengths. The Hydrovane has the least number of moving parts and theyre all made of solid "316" stainless steel. I liked the Cape Horn device for similar reasons but decided against it because its not independent of the existing steering gear. I also liked the history of the Hydrovane,and the "family" nature of the business, the fact that a single engineer in Nottingham England - Geoff Town - has built every single one of them in the 36 years theyve been in business. And finally, the most important reason was that I loved the bright red wind vane, fantastically bold and visible. The major downside was its cost, about $7000 imported from England. When I finally made my decision and pressed send on the email to order it, I felt I had crossed the rubicon of my solo sailing adventure - now I was really committed.The Hydrovane people were great. They kept me informed and up to date with my order which arrived in a few weeks in 5 sturdy timber boxes. For a number of weeks they lay open on the lounge room floor and I periodically would pick up the bits and marvel at the lovely finish and amazing engineering. I read and re read the instructions on how to attach it to the boat and how to make it work after that, and drew up a summary sheet and printed off some photos . Next, not being any sort of handyman myself I had to find a good shipwright to make the installation, and to do various other chores that were going to be needed. Adam Best at Balmain, was recommended to me by Peter Barker from the Balmain Cruising Club. Peter is currently on a solo circumnavigation in stages, at present nearly half way round on the US East Coast, and I spoke to him after attending a fascinating talk he gave about the first part of his journey. So I met Adam and gave him my notes and the instructions printed off the website and a couple of months later, when he had the time , the Hydrovane was installed.
The unit is attached to the stern by two sturdy brackets. Here (above) you can see the lower one has been mounted after the stern ladder has been removed .In the pics below you can see the solid nylon(!) rudder with a coat of antifoul, and in the next pic the whole unit attached except for the Windvane which goes on top.
Looking at that shot of the two rudders provides a good opportunity to describe how the Hydrovane works.Essentialy what you do is get the boat moving along nicely in the direction you want to go and fiddle around with the sheets until you get to that spot where all youre doing is making small movements of your wheel to keep the boat on track. You then lock your steering wheel - or tiller - at that spot and sometimes even without a Vane of any sort a good boat thats sweetly balanced will just track along. So then you activate the Hydrovane to take over the job of making those (usually) small movements using the auxilliary rudder. This is done by pulling out a couple of pins and then lining up the Vane so its leading edge is facing directly into the wind, wherever it may be coming from - to do that you just pull one way or the other on a loop of cord that goes from a tiny block that you can attach anywhere nearby thats convenient, around a cog on the device. Once its lined up you slide a sort of gear leaver along to put the thing into gear and thats it. Little adjustments can be made with the cord as needed.
This Youtube video is a promo for a documentary about a solo sailor going arond the world and via Cape Horn the "wrong" way ie east to west, nothing to do with Hydrovane but in the background you get glimpses of it working away through all manner of weather. Amazing bit of engineering!
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