Instruments set to True or Apparent wind?

[daverebbettes]

DO says true, DR says apparent. Plus a great pub at Hillhead.

https://youtu.be/Gmixvf9Ykmc

Thoughts?

[JPA Cate]

No spare data to watch the u tube, but we have friends who work in true, and we usually operate in apparent, but occasionally check the true, so you might catch us switching back and forth. Of course, you trim your sails to the apparent wind, but use the telltales to tell you when you have it right.

Ann

[Pete7]

To answer the question since Memsahib looks at the wind speed I will switch it between apparent and true to give the lowest reading so she thinks its calmer than it might actually be.

Pete

[daverebbettes]

Originally Posted by Pete7

To answer the question since Memsahib looks at the wind speed I will switch it between apparent and true to give the lowest reading so she thinks its calmer than it might actually be.

Pete

Ha ha. You have given away your age Pete. That is the sort of wisdom that only comes with a certain number of years.

[fxykty]

Apparent generally most useful for trimming and an autopilot, but true useful for knowing what’s really happening (eg preparing to reef or unreef at the next course change) or for your autopilot if you have lots of accelerations and decelerations, say on swells. If you keep a written log, you’ll want true speed and direction.

[StuM]

Like Ann, generally on Apparent, but periodically flick over to True to confirm conditions, especially when thinking about a change of direction.

[HankOnthewater]

Most of the time my instruments show 'True', because that is what is really happening. However when another (racing) sailor(s) is/are on board invariably it goes to 'Apparent', just to trim the sails better to get that extra 0.2 knots. I just admire those guys: easing and pulling, looking, checking, easing and pulling some other ropes, ad infinitum, while I sit back, sip my hot coffee, very content, and indeed learning some new things all the time.

[Calif.Ted]

I like true because it's something I didn't know without the gauge, apparent is all around you, the masthead fly, the flag, wind on your face, chop on the surface, telltales etc. Press the button and compare after trim or course changes a lot. Having true for the gauge and apparent from the masthead lessens the tendency to overtrim for myself.

[Mike OReilly]

Same as Ann and others; mostly apparent, but occasionally flip to true just to check things. Apparent is what matters most of the time for the boat. And it’s pretty easy to know what the True is using Apparent and boat velocity vector.

[kcj]

Apparent.

Especially since I found out true relies on the paddle wheel speedo that is either not in, fouled, not calibrated, etc

Furthermore, it Turns out that GPS speed is not the correct 'definition' and is not updated 'fast' enough

[cal40john]

I have analog wind gauges, no digital outputs to link in. Same is true of my knotmeter.

The times I've tried to calibrate my paddle wheel knotmeter using my GPS on a lake with no current on a no wind day motoring with the autopilot, it is very obvious that there is non linearity. I can pick one speed where the two match up, then at any other speed they don't.

Then there's the fact that the paddlewheel is not mounted on the centerline of the boat, so when I'm sailing heeled over there are different speeds on different tacks.

Even if I had the ability to get true data, I wouldn't trust it.

[caradow]

I honestly doubt "most" cruising boats wind instruments are accurate enough to really believe TW readings. Therefore AW is fine. However on Race boats with calibrated instruments knowing the TWA when sailing DDW with a Kite is a godsend. Much can be gained when knowing your angles and it will give you a great advantage. Much more difficult than going upwind. At one time in my life TW was very important.....now I don't care and much happier.

[rom]

Originally Posted by kcj

Apparent.

Especially since I found out true relies on the paddle wheel speedo that is either not in, fouled, not calibrated, etc

Very true, same here.

But caradow has a good point. When sailing downwind with a kite, a reliable TWA is great. I don't have that reliability (yet) but I am really looking forward to upgrading my instruments & AP. And when I finally trust those equipments I will get a nap DDW !

[savagebee]

My 2 cents, on a boat that is otherwise well equipped electronically, we chose to not have wind instruments at all except for the wind vane at the top of the mast.

I have never regretted this decision to save on costs, mast cabling etc. In my opinion if you have been sailing a while and know your boat there are plenty of indicators you can use to determine the wind speed and angle. Without instruments you quickly learn to take note of the ripples and waves on the water, the wind on your face, the pressure in the boat, a flag on the sidestay.

Wind instruments are the most redundant instrumentation on the boat and not worth the cost in my opinion.

[donradcliffe]

Apparent wind angle, true wind speed. Most cruisers are not that concerned with TWA downwind, because they aren't going that fast and they don't have spinnakers up.