Windvane with Arch

[ErBrown]

Howdy Folks, I realize that an arch with good high mount davits, solar and wind generation is typically not recommended with a windvane.

That being said, after spending a week offshore from Maryland to Abaco I kept thinking about what a pain in the arse it would be if the AP failed or we lost electrical for some reason. The B&G AP seems extremely solid and reliable and I would definitely want a backup before we actually leave for any major passages but I still really like the idea of a vane for the long term. So how bout it, anyone have an arch with the works and a windvane?

If so, I'd love to see some pics and here how you maintain relatively clean airflow to the vane.

Thanks,
EB

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by ErBrown

Howdy Folks, I realize that an arch with good high mount davits, solar and wind generation is typically not recommended with a windvane.

That being said, after spending a week offshore from Maryland to Abaco I kept thinking about what a pain in the arse it would be if the AP failed or we lost electrical for some reason. The B&G AP seems extremely solid and reliable and I would definitely want a backup before we actually leave for any major passages but I still really like the idea of a vane for the long term. So how bout it, anyone have an arch with the works and a windvane?

If so, I'd love to see some pics and here how you maintain relatively clean airflow to the vane.

Thanks,
EB

I think this is an interesting topic.

For long distance passage making, my preference would be to have them all. So I would hope the mix of items and design chosen would allow them all to function well.

But if forced to pick just one, it would be the vane, as first priority.

The dinghy can be deflated or folded and stowed.

The solar panels can hang on sides or be flexi panels stowed until anchored.

The wind gen can be stowed too. Or on a tall pole so not blocking air flow to vane on passages, or even on a mizzenmast on some boats.

If the boats purpose is short island hopping or coastal cruising, the vane would be my last choice, as I would more likely use the davits and solar panels and stuff.

I don't own a boat yet. But I look at the installations with interest.

Here is one that caught my eye some time ago. I am just posting it to show what someone else has done and this is not my endorsement of the design or approach.

[Jim Cate]

We've seen some vane installations that looked hopeless from this point of view, yet their owners managed to use the vanes successfully. I think that there a several factors to consider:

First, absolutely clean air flow is not present on any boat going to windward, so while adding new stuff in the way could degrade the flow further, it isn't a all or nothing situation. Further, many boats will steer themselves to windward without the input from a vane. This relieves the vane from steering very much on that point of sail, and the effects of turbulent flow may well not be a big deal.

As you fall off from close hauled, the influence of an arch, etc, diminishes. By the time you are on a beam reach, the air flow to the vane is not badly disturbed, and downwind it matters not at all.

Further, it is possible to mount the vane itself remotely from the steering gear on some models of windvane steering, eg the Autohelm. This could eliminate the issue completely.

In practice, I don't think an arch with solar panels mounted horizontally on its top would in itself be a big disturbance to air flow. Add a dinghy in davits right in front of the vane... well, that is a worse situation for sure. But, IMO one should not have a dinghy in davits offshore anyhow, so some rethinking here might be in order.

Anyhow, I too endorse wind steering for any cruising yacht. I built one for our previous boat and it steered us many thousands of miles. Would like to have one on Insatiable II... I really miss having one.

Jim

[ErBrown]

Thanks Jim. I agree in theory on the not having the dinghy in davits when offshore. During our last passage we opted to stow it on deck under the staysail boom. This worked well from a stability perspective but I'd really like to be able to use the staysail on passages in the future. I guess once we have a life raft we could deflate and store it behind the mast on passage. I here stories of folks saying it's fine on davits as long as it's up high and well secured, so I start thinking about how nice this would be.

But, when I stop to think about it, I agree it just doesn't seem wide for real offshore work. Since that's such a small percentage of the actual sailing we'll probably end up down, I still like the idea of davits from a day to day perspective. For me, dinghy storage is the one real downside to a smallish cutter rigged boat.

I really want to find a way to make the windvane work and a good solid arch with solar, radar and wind generation also seems a requirement. Yes I realize that radar mounted higher up the mast would improve range but from what I've seen range from 8-10 ft above deck is plenty for our needs and (I think) I like the accessibility of having the dome on the arch.

So with davits the dinghy would probably ride there for all but multi-day offshore passages. I like what I've seen from cape horn but would sure like to see a few pictures from folks with a similar (successful) setup.