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I was chatting with Yves form Capehorn at the Strictly Sail Pacific show and I was wondering if anyone had installed theirs yet. I think it was Tor who had ordered one.
Any update?
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s/v Deep Playa | Pearson 424 #152 | http://www.DeepPlaya.comPost generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
Owners no more...
Thanks Dawn and Patrick! -
Hi Patrick,
I did seriously consider getting a Cape Horn windvane, but in the end decided that (1) the installation was too intrusive, and (2) it would prevent me from using the davits with which my boat came supplied.
Installing a Cape Horn requires cutting a relatively large hole in the transom and running a shaft almost to the steering quadrant. That shaft and its own vertically hung quadrant would’ve taken up the center section of the lazarette. That would make it difficult if not impossible for me to climb down in there, a necessary feat for servicing the vessel’s steering system, rudder post packing gland and other stuff. Also, I wanted to keep the big, open storage space an unobstructed lazarette provides.
I’ve never had davits before, but my boat came with them and I believe they will prove useful for the kind of cruising I have planned. To my knowledge, all windvanes but one would create an obstacle to hanging a dinghy back there because they necessarily present a solid protrusion aft of the transom, from the waterline to the mizzen boom. The one exception is the Auto-Helm windvane (http://www.selfsteer.com/products/autohelm/index.php), made by Scanmar International (who also make the Monitor). The Auto-Helm is made up of two entirely separate sections, (1) the rudder & trim tab and (2) the airvane assembly. These two main components are connected by a pair of thin, flexible stainless steel cables in Teflon sleeves that run easily between the side of the davit-hung dinghy and the afterdeck cap rail, requiring barely a half-inch of space between the two to pass through. So I can use the davits and the windvane simultaneously.
There are several features I especially like about the Auto-Helm windvane in addition to its ability to work around a davit-hung dinghy:
– It is of top quality construction (as is its more famous sister, the Monitor).
– Its trim tab controlled rudder provides a second steering system completely independent of the vessel’s system. No lines into the cockpit, no connection of any kind. In the event of a failure in the boat’s primary steering system I’ll have an instant back-up that I can operate via the airvane, or with a tiller autopilot, or by leading the trim tab cables into the cockpit for comfortable hand steering.
– The directional stability of the boat, especially in heavy downwind conditions, is said to be significantly improved because of the aft location of the Auto-Helm rudder. The extra rudder has a stabilizing and tracking effect of the boat.
– Auto-Helm is American-made by a very well known and proven company. The factory is manned full-time and includes an in-house engineer. They answer the phone in American English and are wonderfully responsive to the needs of far-flung cruising sailors.This is not to say the Cape Horn windvane is bad. By all appearances it is an elegant, well-made mechanism that seems to do what it is designed to do. It just didn’t suit me and my boat.
I’m in the process of installing my new Auto-Helm windvane now. Will have photos to share soon.
Tor
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Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
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