Hydrovane windvane?

[Debo]

I have read everything I can find on the web about the Hydrovane self-steering gear, including lots of discussions about what its shortcomings should be: primarily not enough power to steer large/heavy vessels, especially boats with long keels. That said, I've read a number of accounts of the Hydrovane working fairly effectively for such boats, and I've found almost none that report that the Hydrovane actually failed heavy vessels.

We are considering buying a Hydrovane for our 20-ton 45' wooden ketch (traditional hull design with a full keel). If you have experience with a Hydrovane on an equivalent boat, and especially if there were serious shortcomings, we'd love to hear from you.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to tell us your experience!

Caitlin
(Debonair)

[Herreshoff]

I was very interested in a hydrovane yet decided to go with a monitor windvane. I think I really wanted to believe that the hydrovane would be the winning option because of its simplicity and slick look, lack of control lines etc. I also think they have an impressive only presence and marketing strategy over other brands. After researching for a long time and reading hundreds of reviews I decided it was not right for my relatively heavy 16ton 38footer. I concluded that the one major benefit of a servo pendulum vane over a hydrovane was the huge amount more power it was able to deliver and that it works even better in heavy winds. Personally, I can't see the hydrovane been able to take full helm control like the servo pendulum ones can. I think if your boat was beautifully balanced on all points of sail than the hydrovane would work fine to keep the boat on course however I'm not sure that its simplicity of the design makes up for less power output.

I haven't used a hydrovane. I could be completely wrong! Hopefully others who use the hydrovane will let you know their thoughts. Not trying to bag out the brand. These are just insights from my own research.

Another down side is that, surprisingly, give the less complicated design, they are more expensive than the servo counterparts. I was able to pick up a used monitor vane for a thousand dollars Australian and after another $700 had it properly modified to fit the transom. I feel mine looks good hanging off the back even though some people find them ugly.

Hope that's of some help.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Dulls]

Originally Posted by Herreshoff

I was very interested in a hydrovane yet decided to go with a monitor windvane. I think I really wanted to believe that the hydrovane would be the winning option because of its simplicity and slick look, lack of control lines etc. I also think they have an impressive only presence and marketing strategy over other brands. After researching for a long time and reading hundreds of reviews I decided it was not right for my relatively heavy 16ton 38footer. I concluded that the one major benefit of a servo pendulum vane over a hydrovane was the huge amount more power it was able to deliver and that it works even better in heavy winds. Personally, I can't see the hydrovane been able to take full helm control like the servo pendulum ones can. I think if your boat was beautifully balanced on all points of sail than the hydrovane would work fine to keep the boat on course however I'm not sure that its simplicity of the design makes up for less power output.

I haven't used a hydrovane. I could be completely wrong! Hopefully others who use the hydrovane will let you know their thoughts. Not trying to bag out the brand. These are just insights from my own research.

Another down side is that, surprisingly, give the less complicated design, they are more expensive than the servo counterparts. I was able to pick up a used monitor vane for a thousand dollars Australian and after another $700 had it properly modified to fit the transom. I feel mine looks good hanging off the back even though some people find them ugly.

Hope that's of some help.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

You absolutely mirrored my own thought on the Hydrovane.

[Patrick of M]

Fwiw the Caphorn is kind of a combination of the 2 in that it uses a servo pendulum but the lines are all interior and below deck.

[scherzoja]

I too considered a Hydrovane, but decided to go with a servo-pendulum. Big turn-off for me was the fact that it would be nearly impossible for me to remove the Hydrovane's rudder. My waterline is 4' below top of transom; therefore, I can't reach over the stern to pull the pin. I reckon it'd be impossible to put the pin back in and there is no way I'd put the dinghy in the water every time I wanted to get the rudder out of the water, which would be anytime it's not in use.

Also, with the rudder in the water, I was concerned that maneuvering in close quarters would be difficult because that appendage is aft of the boat's rudder, increasing the turning radius.

[dlj]

I can't comment on the size boat you have, mine is 41 feet and is not a full keel.

I have a Hydrovane and it has performed flawlessly. It has not increased the turning radius on my boat.

I'd suggest you talk with Hydrovane and see if they have exemplars of boats similar to yours where they have a Hydrovane installed. They were able to give me exemplars of my boat with installations. I honestly don't think they would tell you it would work on your boat if they weren't sure it would.

I've also had servo-pendulum units on previous boats. They are also excellent and if you feel you need more power, they may well be a better choice for your boat.

I have enjoyed both types on boats.

dj

[slipaway2.0]

We had a hydrovane in our ketch, 9 tons 36ft.

It had no issues steering our boat and probably can cope with yours, it did not affect our steering in close quarters (equally bad).

For me having redundancy if the main rudder breaks was a big plus.

It can be fitted off the centre line of your boat but if your transom is high avove the water that can be a problem, you want your lower bracket not very high above the waterline.

Because it is the main rudder when in use, the brackets and transom will suffer serious loads, so a lot of work is needed to prepare the surfaces for the brackets.

They have examples of boats similar to yours if you ask

[jamhass]

We had a Hydrovane on our 27,000 lb Valiant 40. It worked great. But, to work well requires that the boat be well balanced. If not balanced it will have to work harder than it should and may not be able to handle sudden wind or wave shifts. But that is true of most wind vanes.

In addition, I really liked the self-contained nature of the Hydrovane, as well as its inherent ability to act as an emergency rudder.