Wind Generator Placement

[Aussiesuede]

An effective option.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by craig boorman

Vertical axis wind gens are new and should be studied before buying but this type interests me and will be getting two soon.

Most Vertical Axis Wind Turbiness (VAWT) produce much less energy than comparable Horizontal Axis Turbines (HAWT).
(about 50 - 75% as efficient).

See:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/gallery...r&imageuser=79

[Tropic Cat]

Originally Posted by Aussiesuede

An effective option.

That's the largest egg beater I've ever seen.

The only mast mounted wind generators I've seen have been on Ketches as HUD already mentioned.

I've always assumed these are a necessary evil for cruisers as they are what they are.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

They probably stay in the harbor and never go sailing.

Indeed, the person I most recently spoke with about this rig sailed from Tahiti to San Francisco last summer. And the first time I saw a similar rig was in an anchorage in St. Lucia, used by a couple who claim not to have spent a night in a marina in three years.

Might I suggest that you're oft-repeated concerns about capsize might only be applicable to small boats that most of us would not consider appropriate to cruising? Once you carry more than five tons of ballast, ten kilos atop the stick isn't going be all that scary.

Were a "boat designer" to tell me that a wind generator atop the mast would capsize his/her design, I'd be looking for a better designer, perhaps even one who has studied marine architecture.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Tropic Cat

That's the largest egg beater I've ever seen.

Yeah, I'd hate to be involved in a crossing situation with that vessel. As far as the rules of the road, would it be considered power or sail? I'm assuming the "egg beater" powers a prop at some point. Yes?

Regardless, if that boat came up to me and the skipper was yelling, "Starboard!" I'd probably duck his transom.

[JamuJoe]

Thanks for the comments. Safety is always my primary concern, and maintaining anything high up the mast is an issue for me. Actually, the weight of this wind generator is approx 17 lbs and the placement on a bracket 6 ft below the masthead should not significantly affect either the airflow on the mainsail or the masthead instruments. My comments pertain only to large cruising catamarans - which of course are much different in design characteristics from monohulls. The moment arm would be well within the design loading of the mast on this particular 42' catamaran. Heeling and wind-driven capsize is not an issue - the rigging should fail prior to forces that could result in capsize, which is why prudent early reefing is particularly important on a catamaran. My observations on noise and blanketed airflow of stern pole-mounted wind gens come from conversations with owners of similar catamarans (large mains and long booms extending past the arch) with whom we have been out there cruising in the Western Caribbean.

[capt flamingo]

Boats are 1 compromise after another, a never ending conflict of past decisions as we add gear over time. I would cogutate for some time before I decided to make a radical change from the choices others have made before me. An installed wind generator is a dangerous piece of gear when it gets humming in the wind. Please do not underestimate the potential for damage due to mismounting and incidental contact with its rotating fan. I offer our experience as a very satisfactory wind gererator arrangement in which we have been fortunate not to have had any accidents or structural failures. We are a cruising couple on a 38' center cockpit sailboat with a stern mounted aerogen6 wind generator. The pole places the generator's fan blades out of reach of the extended hand of a 6'2" person. Our generator is mounted higher than others that we have seen in 5+ years of fulltime cruising. The pole is supported by 2, 1" side support poles arranged in a tripod and attached to the dinghy davits. There is a 1/8" line attached to the bottom of the generator tail and loosely to the pole which I use to manually turn the generator out of the wind, which stops the fan enough to attach a bungie that ties it off. There are times when you will need to stop the generator. The pole sits on a hinged, rubber isolation pedastal that serves 2 functions. The rubber isolation mount is a must to reduce the transmitted vibration into the hull. You will be amazed by this source of "noise". The aerogen makes NO audible noise above deck other than a pleasing whoosh sound, but below deck percussion noise is a problem without using rubber isolation mounts at all support points between the generator and the hull. The second benefit of the hinged pole mount is to lower the pole and generator to work on the generator and whatever else is mounted up there. Boats require more than the average amount of maintenance and having a safe, fast up and down and repeatable dismount method can't be overlooked. We also use the pole to mount the stern light, led anchor light and the outboard engine crane. The engine crane also serves to lower the pole easily under control after attaching the engine hoist line to the end of one of the dinghy davits. This arrangement leaves all wiring intact and requires removing only the 1/4-20 thru bolts at the bottom of the 2, 1" side supports.
One man's opinion.
Best regards,
hm

[GordMay]

Capt Flamingo:
Excellent description hm.
You wouldn't have photos, would you?

[mikereed100]

A sailboard mast base might be used for this.


Mike

[fastcat435]

here is the drawing attached for the masthead installation

greetings gideon

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Having had both a wind generator and later a decent solar array, I think the best place for the installation of a wind generator is on ANOTHER boat at least 500 feet away from where I'm anchored. I'll stick with solar panels as they're a lot quieter and not as dangerous.

Steve B.

Hi Steve. I'm with you on that -- but I'd rather have a neighbor with a wind gen than one with engine-powered gen.

Best Regards,
Larry

[Lexam]

Hey JamuJoe I see this thread is a few years old. I just wanted to check to see how the wind generator worked out on the mast. Figured you had enough time to form an opinion on it by now.

[fastcat435]

Hallo

We have mounted 5 wind generators on top of masts of Fastcats over the last 2 years and all customers are happy with the solution. minimal noise and maximum power output.
2 types of wind generators are used ( so far ) the Air breeze and the D 400 by Eclectic

Greetings

Gideon

[nigel1]

Originally Posted by fastcat435

Hallo

We have mounted 5 wind generators on top of masts of Fastcats over the last 2 years and all customers are happy with the solution. minimal noise and maximum power output.
2 types of wind generators are used ( so far ) the Air breeze and the D 400 by Eclectic

Greetings

Gideon

Interesting, my D400 instruction book says to secure the blades in very strong wind conditions, not easy if the geny is placed on top of the mast. Does this mean that the D400 can survive very strong wind conditions wihtout damage.

[fastcat435]

Hallo Nigel we have seen wind conditions up to 65 knots with out a problem,

The max charge we have seen was 550 watts or 22 amps 24 volts.

Gideon