Wind indicators nearer to deck level

[thinwater]

Yes, I have a vane at the mast head

Yes, I know how to read sails very well.

Yes, the sails have telltales, leach and body. I know how they work. I've been sailing for 40 years and I like to sail efficiently and fast.

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However, as I get older, craning my neck to look up has become a pain in the neck, literally. I slept funny this week and when I went sailing yesterday it was worse. We were flying a flat chute, but I could barely look up.



Normally I have two indicators on the pulpit (one on each side). They allow me to look forward and keep an eye on the lee bow (very important on fast multihulls--they can dive). They don't read exactly true because of the influence of the jib and they don't account for twist, but they give a good solid relative measure. Once you find a nice grove, it's easier to stay there. They make sailing more fun, for me.





I picked up the habit sailing beach cats 35 years ago and I have had some variation on every boat since.




They are subject to getting beat up, anchoring and such, but these have lasted 6 years, so I'm fully willing to replace them.

Yarn on a hinged stick is another possibility (I used that on my cruising cat), but I find them harder to read. They can be an answer on some boats, where the chute is fatal to anything more complicated.



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Anyone have bow indicator ideas they like?

[thomm225]

When I used a wind indicator, I was racing.

I don't use one now since I'm just cruising and can tell just by the feel of the wind on my body.

I had mine at about eye level though when I raced so a quick glance was all I needed.

Harrier Pilots seem to like their wind indicator at eye level also. (very helpful in a hover in high winds. I noticed this years ago at this same base.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El5sykQFPdo

[Kello]

Instead of looking up, look down. My wind indicator packed up years ago so this is what I have been using since then. Works great.

https://www.weather.gov/pqr/beaufort

[Thomas1985]

I like this one

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Thomas1985

I like this one

You know, I had that on the cruising cat and I never liked it or used it sailing (I did use it to power the autopilot). I prescribe to the "keep your head out of the cockpit" school of sailing. I also felt it reacted more slowly than mechanical vanes. Maybe there was some software damping. But you make a fair point.

Feeling the breeze on your face is great. You don't need any instruments, but ...

• There are many cats and boats with enclosures where the wind is blocked.
• You can also go by the waves and the appearance of the surface of water (and should), but this is inexact when the wind is shifty. Yes, you should frequently glance in the direction of the apparent wind so see what is coming, particularly when it is gusty or squally. The ruffles 1/4-mile away are a message.
• Feel is less useful in the winter when you are wearing a balaclava and goggles. I don't put the boat away.

[leecea]

There were a couple of broken indicators on the shrouds when we got the boat. Maybe I should try new ones. Not sure they'd be easy to read.

https://defender.com/en_us/davis-ins...wind-tels-1260

We do spend a lot of time looking at the wind instrument and just the occasional glance aloft to the manual windex. I think the wind instrument needs calibrating. Probably something to do with the Osprey that are always around the marina.

[Nekton73]

The skipper of one of the first boats I learned to sail/race on used to put a piece of yard on each cap shroud, as high up as he could reach from the deck. He used them in combination with telltales to good effect, I thought.

I tried it myself and didn't take to it right away, but recently was thinking I should give it a try again. Glad you jogged my memory. For various reasons (including also being tired of looking up all the time) I currently have no masthead instrument(s) or indicator and sail by telltales, feeling the wind, helm, watching the water, etc. It's fun and challenging, which is mainly what I'm out for when sailing these days.

[Knotical]

I have old cassette tape on shrouds at three different heights.

[thomm225]

Not sure why you would need a wind indicator after sailing for 3-5 years unless you are racing and you need exact apparent wind.

Unless it is hooked up to your electronics.

Part of my 3-5 years meant sailing all the time for fun or racing 10 months out of the year at least 3 weekends/month.

On the off weekends, my girlfriend and I would still sailed to Pensacola Beach then hang out at the beach bars for the afternoon then sail home when the breeze picked up a bit.

It was about a 30-45 minute sail give or take the 10-12 miles to the beach on the Nacra 6.0 I had at the time. Late 90's.

Video is of a single hander without the jib. Also sounds like an older gentleman since he is breathing so hard. I was late 30's early 40's at the time so it was pretty easy to relax on the trapeze and let the boat do the work.

I would sometimes single hand my 6.0 back from the beach and sometimes with my girlfriend of the time.

She was a bit older than me but up for the challenge of being trapped out at 15-25 knots.

The good old days!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OWpEFoGWFc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvIntMy3Tn8

[thomm225]

Also did speed runs and raced with CC my 5'9" 145-150 lb. girlfriend.

She's about 60 years old in the photo in the dress so you can imagine her muscle tone when she was 40.

If they'd had female football back then she'd have been a linebacker.......except quite feminine at the same time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm0YkYzMKqI

[thinwater]

Ideas?


Obviously I don't NEED an indicator. My boat does have an electronic instrument.


I spent afternoons seeing how far I could fly a hull on my beach cat 40 years ago. Fun times. A friend of mine came across a Prindle 19 last year and it was a bunch of fun re-booting my Prindle mojo and flying a hull again. In fact, I flew a hull a few times on my cruising cat (PDQ) just to watch her scoot, but then I put it back down and decided not to do that anymore. But it was fun. But ultimately dumb.


Back to the original question. Any ideas?

[Antsjh]

I do use a pair of wind tel telltales that came with my Dragonfly 800. Cannot say I would ever pay that absurd price for them, but I do like being able to see one on my windward shroud.

[smj]

Bridges knocked 3 wind indicators off our mast on our open bridgedeck cat so I ended up mounting one off each side of the hardtop. Worked well.

[thomm225]

If you have sailed for a few years, you really don't need a wind indicator if you will just allow yourself to feel the wind. (if you are not in a total enclosure)

Or you can watch the wave direction many times.

Jib tell tales and main leech tell tales should give you enough indication of sail trim for cruising.

[rslifkin]

Personally, I tend to use a masthead indicator as a rough reference when doing mainsail trim, but not much else. For most purposes, I'd rather look at the wind instruments, as it puts a number to the wind, which sticks better for making mental notes about boat performance, etc. In particular for the "I know we've gotten this boat to go faster at this angle in this wind and sea state, what are we doing wrong today?" moments.

On my own (power) boat I make significant use of the pennant on the bow for a wind reference. It's a good indicator of an unexpected wind shift or where the wind is relative to the bow when going up a curving channel such as a river. In a stiff breeze the wind shifting to the other side of the bow will require a steering correction, so seeing the wind move helps to anticipate it.