Pat,
I won’t know until later how much my new bimini/dodger actually effect a windvane when sailing hard on the wind. They may not. On my last boat it was not an issue. Anyway, I’m not worried about it because our Pearson 424’s (and most other decently designed sailboats) will self-steer to windward in most conditions with nothing more than reasonably good sail trim. On all other tacks, the cockpit canvas won’t interfere.
Maybe switching to a taller vane will be an answer, at least in light airs when the boat might not stay balanced to windward on her own. As you say, if the mizzen did come across it would only deflect the paddle for a few seconds. I tend to use windvane steering on long tacks anyway.
Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Original Message
<.. snip>
Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum