Quartermaster wind vane again

[gjordan]

Leszek, I have not been able to answer your PM about the Quartermaster and I cant locate photos, but if you use the search feature, and advance search, so that under user name you can enter Sailor3, you should get a photo, and an advert about QM. If you cant find it that way, you can go all of the way back to 11-10-2012 on this subforum and see Sailor3s post. Maybe someone with more than my dinosaur age computer skills can put a link to it? As far as availability, possibly the boat builder, JEREMY ROGERS in England has parts or plans. I would advertize in the various Folkboat groups to try to find a used one. Good Luck. ____Grant.

[Leszek 01]

Thanks for information. I will try to contact with Sailor3. And what about your experience with quartermaster on Contessa. How it runs especially with stern winds.
Regards

[gjordan]

It was the first vane I had used, so there was a learning curve, but once I got used to it, I loved it. It was far more reliable down wind than my own steering. We did about 9000 miles with that boat, much of it in the trade winds, and it never gybed once. My favorite point of sail was dead down wind. I rigged permanent preventers on each side deck to control the boom, and poled out the jib, and did very good passages. It would steer with anything from full main and 1 oz drifter, down to double reefed main and working jib. It worked equally well close hauled. It would weave a bit on a broad reach, but then, so do I . There is a Contessa group on line, and many Folkboat groups, and that is where I would advertize first, if you want to buy a QM. Sailor3 might be interested in selling if it didnt work out well with the vertical transom. I have seen Haslers, and Monitors on Contessa,s/Folkboats and they seemed so complicated (and expensive)next to the Quartermaster. Best of luck, keep us posted on your hunt. ______Grant.

[willyd]

I have a question about the Quartermaster and how it attaches to the rudder head. The pictures I have seem to indicate that there are through bolts that one uses to clamp it to the rudder head. Do I have this right?

[gjordan]

Mine was strictly friction. The 2 oak pieces just clamped to the rudder head. If you thru-bolted it, you could easily bend the shaft if you caught a line or large hunk of wood. I took a knockdown in Mexico and the vane swung up without any damage. If it had been bolted, it probably would have been damaged. I would think that if your tiller bolt was in the way of mounting, you could use it (longer bolt) thru the vane mount, but the rest of the attachment should be just friction. ALWAYS keep a strong SAFETY LINE to the vane. On a small cruising boat your vane is one of the most important pieces of gear. Best of Luck. _____Grant.

[gjordan]

Looking again at the photo, I dont see what I called the trim board. Mine had a resin phonelic (sp?) piece about 2 inches by 12 inches with holes all the way across it, that attached with shock cord to both sides of the cockpit and would drop down over a screw head that was sticking up from the tiller. This was used as a sort of fine tuning after you had dropped the latch into the gear(notched wheel). It also kept the vane from over-steering. When hand steering you simply pulled the trim board forward and let it be under the tiller. The screw was a rather large bronze round head, that was left sticking up about 1/2 inch. I hope this helps. ____Grant.

[willyd]

Here's a somewhat better picture.


It looks to me like three of the six bolts I see (the ones at the pointy end, which would face forward) must come out so that the oak pieces can fit over the rudder head, two go through the brackets, and the other, the one between the brackets, doesn't need to move, right?

[gjordan]

That is the best photo of a QM that I have seen. It has been several decades since I sold my Contessa and I dont remember just where the bolts were on my QM. I do know that it was just clamping pressure and would swing up if snagged on something strong. I think you will find that almost all vanes have some type of breakaway or pivot method so that you dont damage major parts if you snag something. I have had 3 Aries since then and they have an aluminum tube that connects the paddle to the upper mechanism. The breakaway tube has a groove in it so that the tube breaks before the main gear. Of course a safety lanyard goes to the paddle. I would not mount any vane without some method of protecting it in the event of hitting something. That photo brings back great memories. Grant.