True Stories

From: Samuli Siivonen
Sent: March 27, 2015
To: John; Will Curry; Valerie Williams
Subject: Hydrovane experiences

Hi all,

The delivery came as FedEx promised, so it was Monday 23.3 that Jon got it and brought the new crew member aboard s/y C’est la Vie.

On Tuesday Jon (and I) installed it in about 8 hours, so everything was ready on Tuesday evening. That was fast! Usually I’m too optimistic but this time I was prepared for longer time.

So briefly everything went perfectly and I want to give my recommendations about Jon. He gave us very good and nice service.

Today we sailed first 57 nautical miles from Las Palmas Gran Canaria to Morro Jable Fuerteventura in about 20-25 knots wind with apparent wind angle about 60 and quite much waves. Hydrovane worked perfectly and surprised us totally with the easiness of setting it to the course at first time. Hydrovane kept the course perfectly though the wind and waves changed on the way because of the acceleration zones here between the Canary Islands.

Just to let you know that we are very happy and looking forward to sail more with our new crew member.

Thanks for great and fast service! Feel free to use the photos below, and if you want more photos or something else just let us know.

From: James Bolo
Sent: March 22, 2015
To: Will Curry

Hello, It is better I write in french, it is so easy to translate now with web!

Tout d’abord j’ai été très sensible a votre accueil chaleureux, merci. J’accepte avec plaisir que vous communiquiez mon adresse a votre revendeur en France ou , faute de representation, votre regulateur etait quasiment invisible ds les marinas et aux mouillages !!! Je pense que cela va changer.

J’ai navigue environ 10 ans avec mon precedent regulateur et quitte la France en 2008. Je devais toujours naviguer sous toile car il ne compensait pas les surventes assez rapidement et je devais souvent ramener le bateau au cap manuellement, ce qui me faisait rager. J’ai achete l’hydrovane en 2013, j’etais en Polynesie. J’ai constate immédiatement un profond changement de comportement du voilier et, etant donne que je porte enfin la bonne surface de voile ma vitesse moyenne a augmentee de près d’un nœud. En 2014 j’ai effectue la traversee Tahiti/Hawai/Kodiak et je suis pleinement satisfait du regulateur, je vous en ai fait part lors de ma visite.

Je joins les deux seules photos que j’ai ici, sur mon ordinateur, si vous en souhaitiez d’autres je pourrais vous en envoyer debut mai lorsque mon epouse me rejoindra.

A bientôt.

Très cordialement,

James Bolo

TRANSLATION:

First of all I was touched by your warm welcome at the office recently, thank you. I accept with pleasure that you send my contact details to your new Dealer in France where, for lack of representation, your windvane was almost invisible in marinas and anchorages!!! I think that will change.

I sailed about 10 years with my previous windvane and left France in 2008. I had always sailed under canvased because it did not adjust quickly enough and was often forced to helm to bring the boat on its course manually, which enraged me. I purchased the Hydrovane in 2013 while in Polynesia. And I have noted a much better behavior of my boat especially as I navigate under more sail area, improving my speed by a Knot. In 2014 I made Tahiti/Hawai/Kodiak and I was completely satisfied with my windvane.

I’ve attached two pictures I have here on my computer, if you want more I can send you early May when my wife rejoins me.

See you soon

Sincerely

James

[Editor’s note: We anchored next to James in Ganges Harbour, Saltspring, BC]

From: Brandt Faatz
Sent: March 08, 2015
To: Will Curry
Subject: Sea Trials

Hi Will,

We took Priya out yesterday for her first sail with the Hydrovane. The breeze in Puget Sound ranged from 8 to 17 knots. We tested all points of sail. Close reaching in 10 knots was simple, with the vane set at minimum rudder deflection. Priya sails herself in those conditions anyway, so it wasn’t much of a test. Then we tried quartering in 17 knots. The max deflection setting was under powered, but medium deflection performed very well. It was only a one-foot chop, so not a difficult test of surf-induced yaw correction. We later tried beam reaching in 14 knots. Perfect.

We were able to tack under vane control. At low deflection it was very slow, but switching to max deflection made the tacks almost respectable. She’s a nimble boat, but I was surprised how well this worked.

The net result: the Hydrovane performed flawlessly in favorable conditions. It is a solid start, and it was easier than I expected. I enjoy the feedback the vane gives on sail trim. Vane tending to the lee? Ease the main. What could be simpler?

We mostly set the ship’s rudder 2 degrees to the lee, occasionally increasing it to 4 degrees while we fussed with sail trim. We lost a quarter-knot when we centered it.

I’ll let you know when we get into more challenging conditions. Four-foot chop is about as exciting as it gets around here, so the big stuff will have to wait for our summer passage. We should get four meters off the Oregon coast.

Cheers,

Brandt

From: Bill Hudson
Sent: March 1, 2015
To: John Curry
Subject: question?

After over 25,000 miles, most of it using our Hydrovane (James), we have a question. We noticed a small creak in the unit as he is steering us across the north section of the Indian Ocean. Upon closer inspection, we found that there is just a bit of movement in the horizontal gear used to adjust the vane. It seems loose in the fitting between it and the worm gear that adjusts it. Now it’s not much of a movement, but thought I should ask. We still have lots more miles across this ocean.

By the way, I’ve talked to just about every boat owner I see with a Hydrovane, they all love theirs (as do we). He is steering us right now with a full main, Genoa and forestay sail out with the wind at 120 degrees off the port stern. We’ve used him for the last several days with the main and spinnaker up. Flawless!

Bill & Tracy Hudson

SV Zephyr

(By the way, I made sure to wear my Hydrovane shirt when I went to talk to the other cruisers. Made them jealous!)

From: Gleb Rybkin
Sent: February 11, 2015
To: Sarah Curry
Subject: Re: Cruising Spares

Hi, Sarah,

I sailed from San Francisco to Mexico and French Polynesia/Tahiti and no real issues with the vane so far (thankfully!). The vane has worked reliably from 2 knots to 35. So reliably, that I often forgot about its existence. Can’t really ask for more!

If you’d like some critique – the vane does not hold its angle when lowered in strong wind – raises itself up in a few hours, and the vane knob tends to get loose after a few days. These things are very minor, and they don’t affect the overall experience and functionality. One issue that may be a problem in the future is that the timber pads have developed some minor cracks – if you have any suggestion on how to address it, it would be great.

Many thanks!

[Editor’s Note: If the axis knob is not holding the vane down when inclined you can remove the knob and the black plastic casing to expose two nuts.  Then simply loosen the outer one, tighten the inner one and then re-tighten the outer one. 

The timbers pads may develop superficial cracks. If bothersome, inject some epoxy into the cracks and coat the pads in cetol to protect them further.] 

February 2015

Hi Sarah,

After 18 years and sailing round the world my wonderful hydrovane, Heidi, needs new drive pins…

Regards,

Jane Green

—

Thank you, Jane, for sending us this quote: “Heidi the Hydrovane was the best investment we made for our world cruise and would recommend that nobody sets off without one. She did the work while we enjoyed ourselves.”

BBC NEW STORY: “Clive and Jane Green sail back to Wales after 16 year voyage”

Photo: Banana Bunch from the Galapagos and Heidi steering in the background… Clive enjoying himself!

From: Al and Lindy Rosen
Sent: February 16, 2015
To: Will Curry
Subject: pins

Hi Will

We love Vinnie [our Hydrovane] & have sung his praises far & wide. I met you & your Dad at the Seattle Boat show a few years ago. Your Dad might remember me as I am very good friends with Mark Tanner from Tanner MFG. He made me a stainless bracket for the vane & spoke with your dad about it. Anyways we are very HAPPY customers.

All the Best
Alan Rosen

From: Dan Alonso
Sent: January 17, 2015
To: John Curry; ‘Sarah Curry’
Subject: Surviving the dream

Hi John and Sarah

Still surviving the dream. I thought you might like this photo. I took this picture on my delivery of Halcyon to her winter berth in Charleston. It’s a sun rise after sailing though two nasty fronts off cape fear. For only 35 knots of wind, it was quite awful. As the second front hit I was also hit a beam by a 35 foot rouge wave in 65 feet of water. I turned a saw a wave as high as the spreaders. I grabbed on the companionway and prepared to roll. It was traveling so fast, Halcyon barely pitched 30 degrees. I may write out this delivery; lightning, wind, sinking boat, another autopilot failure and a rogue wave. I love solo sailing? Well, the Hydrovane again the hero. Here she is on the other side of hell.

Cheers

Dan

From: Dave Kenyon
Sent: January 11, 2015
To: Will Curry
Subject: Ahoy from Vancouver!

Hi Will & Sarah,

I saw you were presenting this week in Vancouver and now that I work here I hope to attend.

Gail and I bought a Hydrovane and water maker from you at the Annapolis show in 2012. Starshine and I did the PPJ a year after you. She is currently in Raiatea and I hope to continue the voyage this summer.

I look forward to hearing your talk and catching up with you.

Dave

P.S. Attached is a shot I took while being overtaken by a fast cat not far from the equator … the Hydrovane was awesome!

—

From: Dave Kenyon
Sent: January 12, 2015
To: Will Curry
Subject: Re: Ahoy from Vancouver!

Will –

I look forward to hearing about your adventures on Wednesday!

Here are a few more Hydrovane pix.

Yes, the Hydrovane worked great and I really appreciated it being solo. I had one time on the crossing with wind directly behind me (15 knots or so), the mizzen out to port, the main out to starboard and the genny out to port (wing on wing on wing) and sailed that way for about 5 days without touching anything! The only issue I had was some binding in the worm gear and your Dad sent me an email with the fix, which I did in a few hours and worked great.

The water maker was also awesome!

Dave

From: Pim Tiddens
Sent:  October 04, 2014
To: Will Curry; Valerie Williams
Subject: S/V Nelly Rose

Hi Will and Valerie,

…We have been using the Hydrovane on a number of trips now and we are delighted with its performance. I was all set to start a long learning curve, but it took me less than twenty minutes before we had it functioning to our satisfaction. We made a short video for our blog www.nellyrose.nl immediately afterwards.

I’m not quite happy yet with the installation as I underestimated the hydraulic pressure as the water passes between the slot of the stern and the rudder. The rudder now is half an inch clear of the stern when it is straight, but because of the shape of the boat that reduces to less than a quarter inch when it is on full starboard rudder (placement of centre on the port side). I will lower the shaft about an inch and that should be enough to reduce some of the force that builds up now. Thankfully we put enough backing on the bottom strut, otherwise it could have been ripped out. These are however minor items to be fine tuned. Basically the Hydrovane is everything I hoped it to be.

Best regards,
Pim Tiddens
S/V Nelly Rose

—

From: Pim Tiddens
Sent: December 28, 2014
To: Will Curry
Subject: Re: S/V Nelly Rose

Hi Will,

Yes you can post email on your website and I will send you photo’s of the installation when it is all installed again. We’re now in Colombia and I’ve taken the rudder and vane off.

We just sailed from Curacao to Santa Marta in Colombia using the Hydrovane. It worked downwind in a range of windspeeds from 10 to 30 knots without a hitch. We’re still very happy with our investment!

Regards,

Pim Tiddens

Thank you James for permission to post this excerpt from the blog!

Description of crew member ‘Humphrey the Hydrovane’ on SY Ocean Rainbow, Warrior 40:

“Humphrey: Joined the crew of Ocean Rainbow in 2010 having spent a short period of time out of work and living in the Birmingham area in a garage. In the last 3 years he has learnt to steer Ocean Rainbow with a soft touch and has a good working relationship with both Red Passion and Charlie. He has never taken a day off sick and is totally reliable, he is an invaluable member of the team who comes with the added bonus of being very easy to feed and water.”

[Red Passion = the parasailor, Charlie = spinnaker)

From: Richard Buchanan
Sent: December 26, 2014
To: Will Curry; John Curry
Subject: Hi Mum look no hands

Hi Guys

This video taken on the way from The Canaries to Cape Verdes a few days ago.

Hardly touched it in 6 days. Fantastic. For some reason Ted Devey’s address is not coming up so would appreciate if you could on forward this to him as well. We plan to depart here probably this Sunday for the actual crossing.

Was planning to go straight across but ran out of wind so deviated to Cape Verdes for Christmas.

Best regards

Richard and Phillipa Buchanan

SY Matelot
Mindalo
Sao Vincente
Cape Verde Islands

—

From: Richard Buchanan
Sent: January 14, 2015
To: John Curry
Cc: Ted Devey; Will Curry; Sarah Curry
Subject: Re: Hi Mum look no hands

No problem [to post] John. Glad that you have added to your files!

Just completed Atlantic crossing two days ago having done the crossing in 14 days, 22 hours from Cape Verdes with much thanks to our hydrovane which performed true to fashion, just reminding us from time to time that we were over canvassed when it gusted to over 35 knots with 5 metre swells!

Best regards

Richard Buchanan

SY Matelot
Martinique

From: Pieter Lambregts
Sent: December 28, 2014
To: Will Curry
Subject: Re: Hydrovane on Forgus 37

Dear Will,

It has been some time since you heard from me. First I want to tell you that me and my hydrovane are great friends now. It steered me over the Atlantic and Pacific and we reached New Zealand safely. I still prefer 3d gear when sailing downwind. The abnormal noises disappeared spontaneously. It’s the best piece of equipment on board.

Recently I noticed that the bottom shaft bearing had slipped down 2 cm. Part of it was still in the shaft. The bottom collar appeared to be loose, not because the screws were not tight, but because the ring had broken.

Fortunately I had a new collar in the spare part package.

[Editor’s note: Bottom Collar are now made of stainless steel]

Best wishes for 2015

Pieter Lambregts

Sy Déesse

From: Sarah Curry
Sent: January 09, 2015
To: David Johnson
Subject: Congrats!

Hi David,

Congratulations on your successful Atlantic crossing! I’m sure the rum punch tasted so good when you made landfall.

We followed your blog closely and enjoyed all of the updates. I wonder what ‘nobbled Harry’ on Day 8? Glad it was so easy to get him back to work again.

I noticed the great photos of your arrival in St. Lucia. I’m putting together a Hydrovane newsletter, and was wondering if I could use this one? It’s a beauty, despite the seaweed trail!

Cheers,

Sarah Curry

—

Hi Sarah,

No problem at all, there was a lot of Sargasso seaweed about… but it didn’t impact the hydrovane!

Please feel free to use the photos. What nobbled Harry? One of the guys was playing around near it an knocked the hydrovane so that it was more vertical and was catching on a backstay – which we didn’t notice at night, so we didn’t get the same response and would lose control. So not Harry’s fault!

Regards,

David

From: Greg Lakes
Sent: December 12, 2014
To: Will – Hydrovane
Subject: Re: Niagara 35 – Greg Lakes

Hi, Will,

I’ve been sailing single-handed around Baja and the Sea of Cortez for about six months with my Hydrovane, and it is superb addition to the crew. Between the two of us, he is clearly the better pilot, although he’s not much for conversation and he tends to sing off-key.

I’m in the yard at the moment and noticed that the bottom bearing collar is cracked at one of the screws. How serious is this, and what would you advise?

Thanks,

– Greg

Sent from my iPad