Autopilot with WIND instead of compass

[Emouchet]

My 20 year old ST6000+ does that.
Need the wind input through, using regular ST60 Wind indicator.
Include with this is an alarm with wind direction changes more that 30 degrees from the set bearing.

[DMCantor]

We have a newish NMEA 2000 wind sensor, but an older ST60+ autopilot. We found a black box that would convert the wind data to NMEA 0183 for the autopilot to use, but it adds a bit of a delay and the autopilot performance in wind mode went down considerably. We can partially compensate by increasing the sensitivity on the autopilot.

[zuzullo]

Awesome. I am gonna bring back to life all these ancient systems onboard Thank you so much for the input! If it all works out, next round is on me

[Cpt Pat]

Originally Posted by MikeFergie

Yup most modern auto pilots can be set for wind angle or compass bearing. I like the wind angle for open sea . I have a Raymarine unit

Yeah, my Raymarine tillerpilot couples to my ST60 windvane at the top of my mast via seatalk. Works well. It also gives an alarm when the wind direction changes more than +/- 15 degrees, sensed by the tillerpilot compass. I'm ambivalent about that feature, but I haven't yet cut the leads to the alarm.

[Scaramanga F25]

Non-electronic wind vanes a so quiet

[Pete7]

Just noticed there is no rudder sensor wires on the ST4000. That might make a useful upgrade for a spade rudder if you can find one second hand at a reasonable price.

Pete

[zuzullo]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Just noticed there is no rudder sensor wires on the ST4000. That might make a useful upgrade for a spade rudder if you can find one second hand at a reasonable price.

Pete

Do I need a rudder sensor with my setup? Isnt the ST4000+ taking that info from the wheel, since it is attached to it?

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Has the potential to chew through battery power, but it's just a mode setting in the AP.

Yes, but the real problem is not as much with the autopilot settings as with the variations in wind sensor readings. Wave motion on the boat is amplified greatly at top of mast. My wind readings are not sufficiently damped, if at all, by the Simrad MFD. That is tolerable when the angle is read on the display, as anyone can observe the readout for about 10 seconds and average it out.

But the AP does not seem to have a long enough integration period. I have adjusted the various settings of the AP that should help this, but still find the AP wants to react too much, too quickly, using up too much battery power. I think the variations in the masthead wind readings, especially in a light wind and even moderate rolling, far exceed the variations in flux gate compass readings used in normal AP mode.

For sailing with wind between close reach and not quite dead downwind, it is better to have AP steer by compass since then you can set a constant course as better for accurate navigation. You can also steer to a course line with GPS but that also seems to call for more heading corrections by the AP. Off the wind but not dead downwind, we are not as concerned about small wind shifts affecting ideal sail trim.

So it seems wind sensing for AP is really useful only for close hauled or deep downwind sailing in smallish seas, IMHO, and then only when you have battery power to support higher average current usage.

[DHHerndon]

Most Autopilots can be set to operate by apparent wind angle. I have had a Ray Marine S1 autopilot for around ten years and it is connected to my GPS Chartplotter, my wind instrument, my VHF radio, and depth-water-speed transducer. The autopilot can easily be set to: follow a set course, to go to a set location, to follow an apparent wind angle, and several other settings.

[placolla]

I have an raymarine ST60 that has the wind function. The problem I have with it is if the wind shifts somewhat the alarm goes off. I can't change that setting. I've tried following the manual but no success.

Anyone have advise on disabling the alarm, or changing the parameters of the windshift before the alarm goes off?

[Cat-a-tonic]

I'm still using a 1986 Autohelm 3000 which has a wind driven mode although I haven't been able to find an Autohelm windvane which fits it to test it out so wind driven autopilots certainly go back into the '80s.


Anyone out there got an old spare Autohelm 3000 windvane with the screw connection - not jack plug version?



Chris

[svmariane]

There are enough posts above so you now know that not only is it possible but there's equipment on the market to do the job.

Here's a caution: You really need to train your crew with situational awareness.

For example: My grand daughter was aboard with her girlfriend and I thought I'd brought them up to speed. College kids. To demonstrate my trust, and to build their confidence, during the course of one passage they took their turns on the zero-dark-thirty watch while my wife and I slept. No problems the first few nights. But then mother nature decided to play around. A soft squall comes slowly drifting past and the wind vane tracked as designed. The ship slowly adjusted. The girls didn't even realize that we ended up heading back from whence we came! Cockpit conversation over morning coffee was interesting.


Note: Yes - 100% my responsibility Yes - I should have noted the different rhythm of waves slapping against the hull. Yes - I should have noted a lot pf things. I blame my sexy wife for distracting and exhausting me. So there.

[thereefgeek]

Those "bulky ancient rudders" as you so eloquently describe them have been steering sailboats far longer that batteries ever did.

[secrabtree]

Originally Posted by zuzullo

For a sail boat, does it exist such thing as an autMore looking into a electronic input of the readings from the wind vane on top of the mast that would connect to a regular autopilot.)
If anyone could point in the right direction, that would be great thank you all "newbie here"

Thanks in advance.

Wind vane steering with the vane at the top of the mast will not work at sea (unless software has been invented that takes into account theapparent wind at the top of a waving mast). The vane to control the steering should be at a location with the least apparent wind effect.

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by Tillsbury

You’ve had the answer, but don’t forget that those “ancient rudder” contraptions aren’t replaced by an electronic autopilot. They have the advantage of being much more capable in ocean conditions, they use no power, they are usually more reliable, and the better ones give you a backup rudder. If I were making a long passage I would always pick a wind-driven autopilot over an electronic one, although obviously having both is the best solution.

I'll second that, I had an Aries vane on all my boats, for motoring an autopilot is great.