Aries wind vane on a ketch

[Vino the Dog]

Anyone know if an wind vane">Aries Wind Vane will fit & work on a ketch with boom and davits extending beyond transom?

I have a CT41 Ketch and the boom extends about 5' past the transom and 1' beyond davits.

[jeannicolas]

i use 5 years a aries on a endurance 35 ketch,including crossing atlantic solo.just imagine where is the boom and where is the aerial.No problem unless you gybe violently.In this case have a spare aerial.But anyway,it works.

[AiniA]

You also mention davits, I have only seen one boat with davits and a dinghy on davits. They managed by having the vane (think it was a Monitor) very high, above the davits. You should be able to make a simple mock up of a vane and see how it fits. My guess is that it would be quite hard to work out.

[roverhi]

If the mizzen boom won't clear the wind sensing paddle on a self steering vane, you'll need to center the vane before jibing or tacking. If you don't, will risk knocking off the vane paddle or even damage the vane.

Most davits will work with a vane but you'll have to either have davit arms long enough to hang the dinghy outboard of vane or have the dinghy resting up against the vane. As long as the dinghy doesn't restrict the wind sensing vane or servo rudder, it will work. May chafe the dinghy, however. Best to haul the dinghy aboard when making passages.

[Vino the Dog]

Dinghy goes on deck when offshore. Boom too long to allow vane paddle to be high unless it can fold down when tacking. It IS high enough to walk under though. I guess I need dimensions for the vane.

Related but different question; Is a vane needed on a ketch? I have heard you can rig the mizzen sail to act like a vane by attaching to the wheel. Is this practical or not? I know nothing about wind vanes except general theory.

thanks for your replies.

[zeehag]

steve they donot work on our boats. monitor i have seen on mariner 40, but only one and was a derelict abandoned in mexico years ago.
use vhf net to find someone wanting to get here.

if you can make the windvane use the mizzen sail, and sail jib n jigger, it may help, but is the unit burly enough for that?
.....

[gjordan]

Vino, I was just looking at the Monitor web site today and they have a small blurb on ketches. It was basically , make sure you keep a preventer on the mizzen boom and lower the vane when you need to gybe. An Aries will steer almost any type of boat with a little practice and good sail trim. I would suspect that close hauled the mizzen would send unwanted wind currents to the vane and make steering less reliable. Furl the mizzen and carry on with main and headsails and you will point a bit better anyway. Use the best ball bearing (or roller bearing) blocks you can find for the control lines for the least friction. I put both lines to one side of the cockpit so that I could have easy passage around the other side of the wheel. It was a center cockpit 44 foot 30,000lb boat so I think an Aries will do very well on your boat. It will take practice to figure out best sail trim and vane adjustments. Dont give up if at first you find the boat weaving all over the place. Best of luck with what I consider the best vane. ____Grant.

[gjordan]

Vino, something I didnt consider is if your boat has rack and pinion steering the servo pendulum vane (of any brand) may not work. Do you have regular cable steering or rack and pinion? ____Grant.

[mikwatts]

If you can make it work, you will never regret installing an Aries. I have a 40' ketch, and the Aries is just below the mizzen boom which has no effect on the wind. It is possible to mount it a bit lower than recommended with little effect, and anyway with different amounts of stores on board, as well as different weather conditions your stern will rise and fall a lot!

If I had to choose between an autopilot and a windvane, the windvane comes first for offshore. It will continue to work pretty well forever, and you can assume that autopilots will not, so a spare or two are necessary and expensive. I have friends who have five, and none of them work. I have read comments by some people who find it difficult to learn how to use a windvane. Don't think they have tried very hard. Anything electric on a boat is in a very unfriendly environment, so simple is good, not to mention quiet, and doesn't need the engine run, therefore less diesel used.

For coastal day sailing use an autopilot.

[Celestialsailor]

Welcome to the forum Mikwatts