21 days ago Topic: Windvane vs. 2nd Below deck autopilot robwhelton@hotmail.com

I've owned two different wind vanes: a servo pendulum Navik, and an auxiliary rudder Hydrovane. The Navik was a much more clever design. Hugely powerful, responsive, and fast. You barely needed to worry about balancing the boat, and it handled changes in wind strength without any fuss. The Hydrovane has one advantage: it does not rely on the boat's own steering system. But in every other respect it was inferior. I found it necessary to get the sails balanced just right, and any major changes in wind strength would upset that balance. I used the Hydrovane for the majority of my Atlantic crossing, and it did the job. If your main purpose in fitting a windvane is to be a backup steering system, it's a good choice. I also have a Raymarine linear drive and I really can't fault it. Most boats these days have such robust electrical systems that the power consumption isn't that big a deal. On my current boat, I have been unable to figure out how to mount the Hydrovane, so I will probably install a backup autopilot. I also carry a small (60Ah) lithium battery that gets used for various odd jobs, and this would be my backup power supply for it. One question I do have is whether to actually install the backup autopilot, or just to carry the parts as spares. My thinking is that they might be less vulnerable to a lightning strike of they are in storage. The downside is that I wouldn't be able to instantly switch over to the backup system it's I needed it.

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