Demonstration of the Sailomat "800" self-steering vane during a 6,000-mile transit Los Angeles-Hawaii and return. Installation procedures: www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexch...)
'Steering oar' is sort of a misnomer, since the rudder turns the boat. The purpose of the oar is to amplify the power of wind vane. The vane itself must respond to subtle changes in wind direction and can provide only a weak "signal" force. That force is enough, however, to twist the oar in the water. That twist, applied to water going by at high speed, causes the oar to powerfully move left or right. That movement, amplified by the lever arm of the wings to which the steering lines are connected, turns the steering wheel and therefore the rudder. One remarkable benefit of these clever servo-pendulum systems is that the faster the boat is moving, the more power available from the oar. By the same token, in light air as boat speed wanes to a knot or two, the system stops working.
Well that pretty much ended 3 years of trying to figure out how those things work. Thank you! Very much enjoy your video's btw. Particularly your Hawaii trip.
+Doug Burton I didn't search for 3 yrs, but it did take a lot of searching youtube to find a video that explained HOW they worked, not just some demonstration OF them working. the quick 'dirty' explanation is, water pressure on the 'oar' is appled to the helm via the ropes (for anyone else reading) causing a 'steering' adjustment. the systems are simple in their complexity. Sadly, I've never found a video that actually demonstrates HOW they work, while being able to see the entire 'works'. ie. vane, rope system, oar...and not knowing what all the mechanics look like, a written description didn't help me understand. Eventually, I put enough together from the videos and written explanations, to work it out....sadly, I did all that before this video was posted.
+MrRocque Even staring at a pendulum vane in action it's hard to grasp what is going on. If a vane gear had to think about what it's doing, it wouldn't be able to do it. It makes mistakes and corrects itself automatically. It doesn't ask why and never complains. I have learned more from a wind vane than any person. If Emmanuel Kant explained it in German it would take 500 pages and be incomprehensible. What a vane "means" is: Learn to do it right and keep on doing it that way."
I have been trying to figure it out,and get the impression if i saw one in action on the boat it would be alot easier to understand.now just need the invite aboard.
I'm a new sailor, Ericson 27. A seasoned 7 month veteran...finally decided at 63 it was time to give it a try! Really enjoy your videos and am learning a lot! Thank you!
That’s the best explanation of a windvane steering system that I’ve ever seen. I’ve sailed with a Hydrovane on a heavy boat, and found the experience less than satisfactory. I think that was because the Hydrovane uses its own rudder rather than servos controlling the wheel or tiller.
I truly enjoy your videos better than all the others I have watched . It has inspired me to come up with a plan to take lessons and learn to sail then find a boat and start exploring the keys and the Bahamas as I am on the east coast . Thank you for all the valuable information about sailing and other tid bits you often add .
Well, it's never too late for a class with common sense as the core. Thanks for taking time on this gadget. I enjoy your videos and the commentary you provide. Cheers !
I love this sailboat, the sails are not huge, the boat is just the right size, and yet your sailing, this gives me hope that one day i can get my own! Great video!
Christian, I've now watched your video again, after first seeing it two years ago. In 1998, I sailed from Long Beach CA to Honolulu, then to American Samoa, and finally on to Brisbane A. There I stopped, and eventually shipped the boat home back to CA. I revisited your video, saved on my favorites bar, because it takes me back to my journey, using a Sail-o-mat wind vane. You have a much better setup, tho the results are nearly the same, for all the reasons you point out: Helm balance, sail area, sea state, vane sensitivity. I love watching your boat surf across the ocean, as one, in sync with the ocean. I spent so many days and nights doing what you did during the video...just watching and studying all the opposing forces that keep the boat on coarse. Truly amazing experience that one can only really appreciate having been there. Thank you again. Keith
This video showed that some automation puts less strain on equipment than a human oversteering to compensate.. Awesome instruction video on wind vanes .. Thanks for posting ...
the one main tip you give & takes a lot of can sailors to learn is balance & that doesn't mean full sail up even down wind in 20kts. Iv surprised many of sailors (deliveries) on the amount of sail it takes to keep a comfortable ,safe well balanced boat going long distances with out ware & tear on boat & crew . thanks great vid - may the wind all ways come over your stern sailor bill
Great review, I've an Adams 31 centre cockpit with the same raymarine autopilot setup on the wheel, works fine on the wind and some points running but doesn't hold long in following seas, this might be the answer. Cheers pal
A Twizzle is a great downwind sailing rig. It cuts out roll, is inherently self-steering and, if you have a twin luff groove, is fully adjustable from a handkerchief to two full sails and everything in between, and all from the cockpit. Plus it's good from a run to a broad reach.
You ended up capturing some great images of the sea state here. I really get a feel for the conditions. Great footage of sailing. Why not bring the dead ends of the control lines back to cleats on the same side of the cockpit, so as not to additionally entangle the ladder?
What a great guy, he’s teaching the whole time, I would love to be young again and able to sail, at seventy it too late I never really thought of it as a trucker all my life. Like truckers some herd their trucks, some drive and are pros at it never lost because they can read a map and have a sense of direction, never caught on a road with a low bridge. Mr Williams is a treat because he’s a teacher not only a teacher he’s self taught because he LOVES WHAT HE DOES, that’s the secret to perfection is the love of doing it right. Excuse my grammar and spelling those things never interested me, I was hopeless in school I wanted outside where the action is that was my life, I loved it. I really enjoy your vids and am trying to learn even though I’ll never sail. Thank you sir.
Christian if you read all of these comments, I too am a professional trucker, so was my dad , just saying....many thanks Mister Christian.....the peace I get from your videos is indescribable....stay safe. Never stop
Hi Christian, just wanted to mention that I do really enjoy your videos. I noticed in this video on the top of your transom/rear deck there are 2 vents, can you tell me what the need was to put these there? Are these for venting locker fumes?
If I may intrude? The Autopilot runs off the battery/electrics and is therefore ideal when the engine is running. It holds your course (accurately) while hoisting sails and attending to boat duties as you're getting underway. Once you're fully underway and the engine stopped you'd set the Sailomat to the desired course and turn off the Autohelm (as it's using your house battery). You could use the Autohelm for sailing if you don't have a self-steering wind vane however you'd risk draining your house-battery unless you observe the Amps you use very, very carefully.
Mr Williams, I purchased a sailboat and I'm a beginner. I'm going to be sailing by myself. My question is. When you are sailing at night, by yourself, in open waters, do you stop sailing until the next morning or do you sleep while the boat is still under sale?
+Scotto Wd A self-steering vane steers the boat so the singlehanding skipper can sleep, work the boat, eat, and get somewhere. Congrats on the new boat. If sailing a keelboat alone (or any boat that can sink) , always wear a safety harness when land is more than a short swim away. The penalty for accidentally falling overboard, unlikely as it is, is severe.
If you're going to all the expense and effort of installing a self steering system, why wouldn't you get one that acted as an independent rudder? The large majority of catastrophic failures on long sailing voyages are steering systems, usually rudders.
Monitor offers an add-on emergency rudder for $1500 plus, if you want to carry it. Spade rudders on cruising boats don't fall off, however. Steering failure is usually in the mechanical system, for which every wheel-steerd boat has a simple emergency tiller. Anyhow, I don't consider typical steering failures to be catastrophes in themselves, but problems to solve. The issue gets serious if a yacht strikes a shipping container or a whale, and the spade rudder is bent or jammed. An aux rudder may not help with that. I've sailed 400 miles with no rudder at all (outboard rudder torn from transom) using sail trim. There are also drogues, jury-rigged steering oars, and other tricks, even incorporating rough self-steering. IN my opinion the notion that a "backup rudder" will allow a crew to continue on course and on schedule is wishful thinking.
Electric autopilots work as well or better but produce heavy loads requiring large battery banks, solar panels, weight and complication. A yacht set up for deep freeze and microwave will naturally fit a powerful belowdecks hydraulic system. So will high tech singlehanding racing boats, where performance is pressed to the edge. But mechanical vanes are elegant, use only wind power as a sailboat should, and if mine breaks I can fix it. A matter of choice, style, and usage. The cost, electric vs. vane, is pretty much the same.
Christian Hi , You know so much about boats and the sea. I have been looking at some boats on the web and I see boats like a Hudson Force 50 $49,000 & Shannon 38 Ketch $96,000 Could you pls tell me why these are so cheap to some other boats I have seen. Is it that they need more maintenance ( which Im sure they do ) or that a Ketch needs more than one person to sail it? They look such nice boats for the price they are. Cheers be safe
+Roy Colley Old boats, old systems. Replacement or repair of original equipment very expensive. Boats are priced according to cost to make them seaworthy. A good Shannon for $96K sounds about right and should require minimal renovation.
The vane idea was developed for the first TransAt singlehanded race of 1960. Blondie Hasler 's early design worked, Chichester's didn't. Modern gears are evolutions. Advances in electronics make "power steering" viable now, even for small boats, so the self-steering wind vane is a throwback to simplicity. And remains marvelous.
