A word about installing any kind of pendulum vane gear:

Here is another site that may be of some interest for self-steering ideas
http://www.windautopilot.de/_de/7_dy_area/WaltMurray/WaltMurray.html

This is not the answer to Paul's specific question, but perhaps of some interest to anyone considering a wind vane self steering gear more generally, our Hydrovane is wonderful.  We originally mounted it on our 25 foot boat and then transfered it to the current 32 foot boat, both of which had inboard rudders and transom sterns, which is perhaps the easiest mounting arrangement.  However, brackets are available for the Hydrovane for any stern and rudder arrangement.  We will transfer it to the fifty footer when we get it .... ! It is heavier than I would  have liked but that is the price to be paid for what is a piece of bomb proof engineering.  Our model can be adjusted remotely.  Provided that the current tack has the tiller or wheel secured amidships and that the sea is calm, the course adjustment can be used to tack the boat remotely from the hatch.  In practice, however, I have to date generally not bothered with the remote control line because it would be a little awkward to have it running up the centre or around the cockpit, but use the pulley for the remote control line like a mini steering wheel to make course adjustments.  Because it has a totally separate rudder which is not connected to the tiller or wheel, it provides a back up rudder and tiller system.  It steers the boat very well on all points of sail in all wind conditions, except for the very slight winds from astern when it may be necessary to turn to a reach to achieve a stable course, but that would be expected from any wind vane system which works on apparent wind.  You can mount a tiller autopilot onto the Hydrovane tiller rather than the main tiller and, as in the wind vane operation, set the main tiller or wheel to make the main rudder do the bulk of the steering and the Hydrovane rudder to make the continuous minor corrections, this gaining a mechanical advantage for a small electrically driven tiller autopilot.  The Hydrovane is not cheap, but an old second hand model could still be good.  The vane was designed and made in Nottingham, and even though the company has been sold to a Canadian family business, the whole apparatus is still assembled by one man in a cellar workshop in Nottingham and all parts are still available.  As for Jeff not requiring a wind vane on a lake, I understand that the lake is sizeable, but more importantly, being on your own boat steered by a wind vane is one of this life's great experiences.  jds

Hi Guys,

While the subject is not a strictly junk rig subject, it is most certainly related especially for those who voyage with their boats and so I thought I'd bring it up here.

I'd like some input from people who have sailed with windvane  selfsteering systems. Ideally people with experience with both  trimtab and pendulum servo gears.

I have sailed quite a few thousand miles with a Monitor servo pendulum gear and it works well and I have no complaints about its performance. However it is heavy and La Chica is small at 32ft even if heavy displacement. I am trying to reduce weight in the ends of the boat because like most double ender's, La Chica is inclined to hobbyhorse if the ends get to heavy.

To this end I purchased a Cape Horn servo pendulum gear which is considerably lighter than the Monitor and has as good a track record. However, La Chica has an outboard rudder that lends it's self to a trimtab gear and it strikes me that I could reduce weight further and simplify things by going the trimtab route. I do however have no direct experience's of the system.

My concern is not performance as I'm sure that La Chica will sail well under either type of gear. I'm more concerned about course adjustment from my Hasler hatch.  

For example, with the Monitor (and it would be the same for the Cape Horn) once the steering lines have been connected to the tiller, I can adjust my course, tack or jibe the boat just by using the course setting line. I do not see how this could be done with a vertical axis vane and a trim tab. Of cause I do realise that if I use a horizontal vane (as do the Monitor and Cape Horn), that i could get the trimtab gear to work in the same manner but somehow trimtab gears and vertical axis vanes seem to go together. That of cause could just be my imagination :-)

David, I'd particularly like your take on this as I know that you have a lot of experience's with windvane gears, both in design, fabrication  and sailing with them.