- One piece of equipment, your windvane can end the dream! It is that serious and that simple! You must fly to succeed!
- No shortcut to Planning Preparation and Execution.
- Don McIntyre explains the critical concept that will get you across the line!
I have been sailing for over 50 years and have earned a few aeronautical licenses over that time to fly general aviation light aircraft, Ultralights, Weight shift trikes, gyrocopters and helicopters. I have owned them all. Gyrocopters were the most fun and Helicopters, while super cool, are an experiment in “Finite Failure Analysis”, a complicated machine with every component waiting to break. Planning, Preparation and Execution kicks in. I always undertook detailed preflight inspections and correct maintenance on our float equipped Huges 300 helicopter as salt spray while strapped to the Helipad on the back of my ice ship “Sir Hubert Wilkins”, transiting Southern Ocean storms to Antarctica did not help maintenance issues. I would always just kiss my arse goodbye, then lift off to enjoy the flight without worrying, as that would not help. Every component is time life’d, then thrown away after a set number of flight hours calculated to be before – they are historically due to break! All components have mandatory maintenance schedules to check every 100 hours until replacement, between 1500-3000 hours.
Now spare a thought for all the moving parts in a servo pendulum wind vane self-steering system on a yacht sailing 30,000 miles around the world for 350 days, the expected time at sea for the upcoming McIntyre Mini Globe Race and similar to the Golden Globe. That is 8400 hours of operation! Now think of those components moving one way, then the other, every six to ten seconds underway. That is 5,040,000 Cycles or 10,080,000 individual movements, all the time under changing loads. Each of the bearings and shafts are continually bracing against each other and every nut, bolt, washer, screw and pin is being put to the test trying to break, come loose, or wear out.
If? or when that happens, things stop working. The good news is, you’re not falling out of the sky!! The bad news, well name your poison? If you’re in a storm you may be in trouble. If you’re sleepy then get over it. If you’re in a hurry, think again and if you’re unlucky you may be in trouble.
Windvanes self-steering systems are part of my sailing history…My first was a QME horizontal axis plywood vane bolted to the pushpit of my 29ft self-built SKYE, with lines connected directly to the tiller. Before setting off from Australia on my first three-year voyage into the Pacific in 1979, I imported my first servo pendulum system, a slick NAVIK from Plastimo in France. For all of the 80’s I was the exclusive agent for Aries windvanes in Australia and New Zealand. I have sailed and played with most current commercially available windvanes over the years. I currently own an original pristine Hasler system, my 2021 South Atlantic 301, a couple of pristine 1988 Aries Lift-Up break apart units with wheel drums and a 2024 Hydrovane.
During my solo circumnavigation in the 1990 BOC challenge sailing my Aluminium McIntyre 15.2mtr yacht to second place in Class 2, I had five independent electric autopilots that could be engaged whenever needed and just one Monitor windvane I never used. The Golden Globe Race is sailed under windvanes only and I have watched entrants learn strong lessons from failures.
In the upcoming McIntyre Mini Globe Race, only a maximum of 200 amp hrs of batteries and 200 watts of solar panels are allowed, specifically to restrict autopilot use, so while small tiller autopilots are permitted, you cannot generate enough electricity to use them often and they are too fragile for around the world. A windvane in both adventures is critical equipment to live the dream. Fail to take your windvane seriously and you may live a nightmare! That is the same story for anyone buying a windvane.
As good as windvanes are, they can and will eventually fail, if not looked after. NO self-steering gear sold anywhere is unbreakable. I am comfortable saying that virtually all the reputable brands that have been sold for at least the last 10 years or so, will and do work and will steer yachts. Some are built stronger and more robust than others, some bearings are better than others and some are for specific boat displacements, so make an informed choice. Think about the features you want and then shop around. Talk to others using the unit you are thinking of. Google them and follow their track record.
No matter what the brand, when I hear sailors say it did or does not work, there is always a reason and it’s not usually the vanes’ fault. They all do work and are all based on simple well proven design principles. Either an auxiliary rudder system like Hydrovane, or a servo pendulum system like Sea Feather or South Atlantic.
So, what’s the problem? Simple! YOU need to know how to FLY the windvane and FLY your boat in unison to make them work together as designed. It is a symbiotic relationship. YOU need to know how and why they work to do that. YOU need to match the system with your boat design, requirement and displacement. YOU can do it when you put in the effort to learn the ART of making it all FLY. It is art and science but very simple.
If you just want to bolt it on and expect it to sail your boat, then you’re possibly in for the first big surprise. If you expect it to keep going for 5 million movements without you doing anything, you are in for your second!
This story is not to teach you the art of using your wind vane, or how to set it up on your boat correctly to make sure you do not lose power or efficiency. It’s not to show you how to balance your sails, or how to use your rudder as a trim tab to assist the system and make your boat ready to accept the vanes input. It is not even about which units are best or better etc. It is about Planning, Preparation and Execution, which is more than just three words.
This story is about keeping planes and windvanes flying. They both need regular maintenance and inspection. They both need operators with a good understanding of basic aeronautical and sailing knowledge and training to make them work efficiently. Only then can you enjoy the experience and keep that extra non complaining crew working day after day.
YouTube and Google are loaded with instruction and advice on everything you need to know. The installation and operator’s manual of your windvane, and the wealth of knowledge waiting on the other end of the phone of your supplier helps a lot. They absolutely want to make sure you are doing it right to enjoy their windvane.
If you have ever told someone your windvane simply does not steer your boat, or heard someone say the same…and I often do! then it is probably an operator problem, rather than the windvane. Are you sure you know how to FLY the system and FLY your boat? Have you talked to others using that system? Is the installation and model correct for your boat?
If your windvane is NOT working, that may be a maintenance issue. Have you checked every nut bolt washer bearing etc? Do you have the spare parts to replace broken, worn or inoperable parts? Have you done a thorough pre-flight, pre-sail inspection? In my humble opinion, all the proprietary windvane brands work, but need regular inspection and maintenance to keep them working.
When I raced my Class Globe 580 Mini TREKKA solo across the Atlantic in Nov. 2021 I used for the first time a South Atlantic S301 windvane. It weighed just 13KG and in any race, weight in the end is critical. It looked to be a well-engineered servo pendulum system and was priced perfectly in the market for a Mini. I was not disappointed. Having decided to buy one, the manufacturer became excited about the whole Class Globe 580 concept and gave it to me instead, as a sponsor. I did not say NO!
After only two hours sailing TREKKA, I set out from Marina de Lagos in Portugal to cross the Atlantic, first just 500 miles to Marina Rubicon, Lanzarote in the Canaries. That five days delivered every kind of weather including 35kt gusting 45kts with up to 4mtr seas running under bare poles for 18 hours. The next 3000 miles to the Antigua sailing academy I experienced calms and then moderate to strong 28 gusting 35k Tradewinds over 28 days. I hardly steered and only used an electric autopilot for 8 hours total. The South Atlantic S301 sailed true and performed well! In fact, I was impressed and well rested on arrival at the finish, making 100-120 mile days all the way, only steering when I wanted some fun, or extra performance. Most nights I had at least seven hours sleep, waking only occasionally. TREKKA and the South Atlantic were FLYING together as one.
I had a few small issues with the servo blade slipping in the fork mount at the bottom of the pendulum swivel shaft. It was an easy fix by jamming cut hacksaw blades as packers each side of the retaining bolt. A long grub screw link at the bottom of the vane push rod kept unwinding. I had removed it prior to the start while fitting a longer pendulum arm to better fit my installation. I had mistakenly refitted it with zinc antifreeze, instead of Loctite. OPPS! If it dropped out, I would have been in trouble with no spare. Initially I tightened it every few days but in the last 300 miles I was over the back tightening it every 6 hours and it was enlarging the female threads, so would probably only last another 300 miles! As a precaution in Lanzarote, I had replaced the two main bearings after the first 500 miles. I had spares and thought the original were a little sloppy from the start, so fitted the new ones and kept the original as spares. The lead counterbalance on the vane head also froze to the shaft because I was not moving it.
I transferred my experience and a few new ideas to the manufacturer who took it all onboard and upgraded various items on all future units. Now there are many Globe 580’s with the South Atlantic S301.
Entrants in the first McIntyre MGR must first build and prepare themselves and their boats for this challenging and grueling adventure. They must learn celestial Navigation and above everything else they must learn to FLY! If they fail this simple task, they will surely suffer.! In any major adventure there are always too many reasons not to move forward. Windvane failure should not be one of them.
Only a couple of the 18 MGR entrants currently racing to the start have ever sailed under windvane! Most have fitted South Atlantic 301’s. There are a couple Wind Pilots (bought on the black market! 😊) and two Hydrovanes. Can the 301 make it around the world? I believe it can and will, but only with the following plan. …1. Fit the S301 ‘Offshore PLUS” with spares set. 2. Make sure the position of steering lines and blocks are in the correct 580 position on the boat and tiller- This is proven to be critical! 3. FLYING is not optional, it is mandatory! Entrants must learn and train! 4. Regular pre-flights and scheduled maintenance is mandatory, no excuses. 5. Entrants must Carry the following EXTRA spares, on top of the Offshore Plus! Because you are going around the world !! another PUSH ROD with all fittings, Complete set of extra grub screws and all bolts used on the vane, another set of main bearings, One extra small “heavy weather” vane.
Link to Vanes mentioned in this story:
Navik: https://windvaneselfsteering.com/file/navik(uk).pdf
Hydrovane: https://hydrovane.com/
Sea Feather: https://www.seafeather.co.uk/
South Atlantic: https://www.south-atlantic.com.ar/
Hasler: https://www.kyoa.org.uk/haslervanegears.htm
Wind pilot: https://www.windpilot.com/#
Aries: https://ariesvanegear.com/
My true definition of ADVENTURE is…”any activity with an unknown outcome!” ….Good luck!!! 😊
Don McIntyre, MGR Founder.
