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Poll - Best Windvane Self-steering system ?

Thread starter Boo2
Start date 18 Nov 2012

Best Windvane Self-steering ?

Sea feather.

Total voters 112
18 Nov 2012

Well-known member

Sea Feather
South Atlantic

I had a Hydrovane on my last boat. Excellent support when selecting, buying and fitting- fitting was easy singlehanded while afloat. 15 years of faultless service from it. Would not hesitate to buy another Hydrovane.

Didn't feel right voting. I imagine most of us have only used one or two vanes, and will vote for the one we know. I have a Monitor, the only vane I have experience with. It served me well crossing from Japan last year, but have nothing to compare it to.

jim99 said: Didn't feel right voting. I imagine most of us have only used one or two vanes, and will vote for the one we know. I have a Monitor, the only vane I have experience with. It served me well crossing from Japan last year, but have nothing to compare it to. Click to expand...

Robwhelton said: +1 FWIW, I have a Navik, which is a good match for my boat . . . .I would say that the Navik does have some limitations: Click to expand...

I don't suppose many people have had experience of the full range of windvane steering systems so your poll won't be much help. I have only owned one, a Monitor. It is easy to use and incredibly sensitive. The absence of any alloy parts means there is nothing to corrode so you can always get it to peices easily. Things I don't like are its weight, appearance and the fact that when the paddle is out of the water it is vulnerable to being bashed by passing boats. It also adds to the boat's length so you could be charged more in a marina. It wasn't that easy to install. The makers recommend fitting it when afloat but I would have found it easier to do it ashore. Some people think that windvanes are only for ocean voyagers but the Monitor is so easy to deploy and control that I use mine on short trips.

I have Monitor that is simple and very rugged,It's all stainless not alloy so corrosion is not a problem.It doesn't look as smart as other makes(it's downright ugly) but it can be repaired very easily ant it's a doddle to take apart and put back together again.Mine was hit by another boat and one of the teeth on the gear broke off.The clamp for the vane was also dammaged .I had a new tooth welded on (it's bronze) for 5€ and I fixed the rest myself which involved welding new nuts for the airvane clamps .It also works brilliantly and is very easy to set up.

19 Nov 2012

Active member

Just from interest in the design concepts I have looked at most of these and often the choice is thinned out by which are suited to the boat in question. Weight is a major consideration on smaller boats, particularly if they have little reserve buoyancy in the stern. In general, I thought those built from stainless and bronze would outlast the others, just as the older designs using massive bevel gears will probably outlast those with small plastic gears. The one in your list which is really different is the Hydrovane as it is not a servo-pendulum it is not as mechanically powerful, but has the advantage of not being linked to the tiller/wheel which is lashed. Incidentally, a Super Navik was produced to cater for larger boats, but it didn't seem to be popular in the same way the Navik still is. I don't believe you will learn anything from the poll, as others have said most people have experience of only one design. Rob.

>I had a Hydrovane on my last boat. Excellent support when selecting, buying and fitting- fitting was easy I agree. Ours had done over 25,000 miles when I sold the boat. On the maintenance front I only did two things to it, very occasionally change the pin holding the rudder because of corrosion and grease the big cog.

I have not voted as I have only ever owned a Windpilot. It was excellent, used many times to cross the North Sea. In the Med I found it did not entirely resist being whacked by the anchor of a lunatic mobo driver but fortunately was not too difficult to repair.

rob2 said: The one in your list which is really different is the Hydrovane as it is not a servo-pendulum it is not as mechanically powerful, but has the advantage of not being linked to the tiller/wheel which is lashed. Click to expand...

20 Nov 2012

So I have a conundrum. Perhaps peeps here will help solve it..... I have managed to acquire both a Navik and a Sea Feather, both used, and neither yet fitted to my 27' long-keeler with reverse counter. Which one should I sell?

oldbilbo said: So I have a conundrum. Perhaps peeps here will help solve it..... I have managed to acquire both a Navik and a Sea Feather, both used, and neither yet fitted to my 27' long-keeler with reverse counter. Which one should I sell? Click to expand...

dgadee said: . . . .unless they are loaded and buy a Hydrovane. Click to expand...

oldbilbo said: I have managed to acquire both a Navik and a Sea Feather, both used, and neither yet fitted to my 27' long-keeler with reverse counter. Which one should I sell? Click to expand...

Navik spares: http://windvaneselfsteering.com/?q=catalog/navik-replacement-parts These are mostly machined from solid POM. And I have a lOOOng way to go to retirement.

SvenH said: Navik spares: http://windvaneselfsteering.com/?q=catalog/navik-replacement-parts Click to expand...

Sorry, Sven. I should have been more specific, my colleagues are suffering from such things as the pendulum blade starting to crack up - not helped by one of them being struck on the moorings and bending the mounting gear! Rob.