True Stories

From: Carol Backus
Sent: April 21, 2012
To: Will Curry; John Curry
Subject: Bravo to great customer service

Ned and I want to personally thank you both for the great service that you have provided for us and many other hydrovane owners in Mexico this year. For our final trip back from Mazatlan to La Paz, our vane worked flawlessly and was able to steer much more accurately than our autopilot. Haven’t used it in the BIG winds yet but have total confidence.

Your hints need to be posted in three short sentences.

1. Balance sails and get your boat on course
2. Put telltales on the vane, (With all pins still in and autopilot on) get the boat steering the desired course, adjust vane so that all telltales are streaming
3. Pull the pins, turn the autopilot off and you are up and going.

Just as Will said I start with the middle amount of rudder and sail half back. Fine tune from there.

The main comment I have made to those who are not having luck is that total Clear AIR is absolutely necessary so with big blocking biminis, solar panels, davits etc it won’t work. And many of those struggling have only tried the hydrovane once. Trying it in time of crisis or extreme conditions is a poor time to begin.

We really appreciate the attention you paid to us and your efforts to make our unit work. We are passing the word daily about what a good unit the hydrovane is and what a great company you are running. Keep up the good work.

Carol, SV Frannie B

From: Vanja Sorensen
Sent: April 17, 2012
To: John Curry
Cc: Will Curry
Subject: FW: Zuanelli 40 – Hydrovane Installed

Hi John,

We bought the Hydrovane in August 2009 but to test it properly we had to do some serious sailing outside the Mediterranean sea. In September 2011 we finally managed to leave our home port in the northern Adriatic (Italy), and have since then in the period from September 2011 to March 2012, covered 7000 miles. Currently our boat, “Viatrix” a Zuanelli 40 is in Rio Grande in the south of Brazil waiting for us to return for the next leg of the journey.

So far the Hydrovane has made an excellent job, whenever we have had more than a few hours of sailing we would “leave him at the wheel” and we reckon the Hydrovane has done 85% of all the steering during this trip, we were especially pleased with the performance through 800 miles of close hauled sailing during our crossing from Mindelo, Capo Verde to Salvador de Bahia. As explained on your site and as confirmed by many fellow sailors, once the boat is balanced the Hydrovane copes very well with practically all sea conditions.

Our Hydrovane still looks (almost) new, we only had two pins on the rudder blade (part no. 62) breaking and would like to buy 3 new ones from you. Please let us know how to place the order.

We have approximately 1mm of play on the upper shaft bearing, is this normal? If not what parts need to be replaced?

Please also see attached photos, we are quite proud of the installation and thought you may want to publish one of the fotos so that the Zuanelli 40 gets represented in your gallery.

Thank you, Maurizio and Vanja

From: Yves PAGE
Sent: April-06-12
To: Will HYDROVANE
Subject: From SV La Colombe

Hi Will,

I am Yves PAGE, a happy Hydrovane owner since 2009 who sailed from France to New Caledonia with SV La Colombe, a 52 foot long aluminium sloop. I have installed off centre my Hydrovane in Raiatea (French Polynesia) and though my boat is sometime too big for it when the wind is stronger than 25 knots, it performs perfectly most of the time. I have also appreciated the possibility to use it as a spare rudder.

I am now refitting my boat.  As you can see on the pictures attached,  one of  the plastic black screw which hold the cover is broken. I cannot find such a screw here. Would it be possible to send one to me in an envelope at the following address

Thank you in advance.
Best regards.
Yves PAGE
New Caledonia

From: Richard VanAppelen
Sent: April-09-12
To: Will Curry
Subject: Snowaway enjoying Hydrovane on Caliber 40

Will

Hola from Santa Marta, Colombia.

Karen and I are here on our 2008 Caliber 40 LRC with our Hydrovane. We sailed from Grenada to Los Roques, Venezuela in February 2012, about 300 miles, with our Hydrovane steering almost all of the mileage we sailed.

We just completed another 300 miles, from Aruba to Santa Marta – part of a passage described as one of the 5 worst passages to sail in the winter. We were wise enough to wait until the second week of spring but still had winds of 18-25 gusting 32 for some stretches. We were sailing downwind under 110 genoa, often furled to some extent, and the Hydrovane managed well. We had to take over near Cabo de Aguja, which is a point along a stretch of the coast with 5000 m mountains within a few km of shore…there were two sets of waves and we had to hand steer to keep the transom square to the breaking waves…

We have been pleased with the Hydrovane performance this season and look forward to having it steer us back up to Mexico next year.

Having the vane off-centered has had no apparent negative impact on its performance.
Karen made a video of the Hydrovane steering us in 25 knots but the file is too large to send via email – may send via snail mail if you would like it.

Salud
Richard VanAppelen
SV Snowaway

From: Frank Tansley
Sent: March-23-12
To: Will Curry
Subject: RE: Hydrovane question for Will

Hi Will and Valerie –

I wanted to let you both know that if you need a reference for a Hans Christian 41T for the Hydrovane that I’d be glad to be a positive reference.

We’ve had more time to work with it and I am happy with it’s performance. Besides the benefit of self steering a huge benefit for this boat has been the ability to maneuver in anchorages and marina’s better by coordinating the Hydrovane’s rudder with the ships rudder. This boat doesn’t have a tight turning radius and has a mind of it’s own in reverse. But with the Hydrovane rudder combined with the ships rudder I have gained a much tighter turning radius and have more than doubled my ability to control it in reverse.

Fair winds and following seas on the Puddle Jump. We’ll be jumping next year as this year will be the Sea of Cortez.

Sincerely,

Frank Tansley

From: Alexis Lynn Evans
Sent: March-23-12
To: Will Curry
Subject: Re: Hydrovane Installation Photo

We would be happy to promote Hydrovane. We brag about it all the time.

Yes center mount looks good but being able to check the water flow is worth it. Actually an offset would probably cause it to hit the arch. We have just barely enough room now but we are glad to have had it and actually there were times where we only used a small GPS to tell course and speed and we saved a bunch of power over use of an autohelp and plotter. That was in the lonely Pacific. Anymore it’s so much more crowded that we need to use the AIS anyway.

Nice to chat with you…

Lynn
CYAN IP 380-058
in Marina di Ragusa, Sicily for winter

From: Larry Read
Sent: March 05, 2012
To: John Curry
Subject: More data

Hello John

We got in some great sailing this weekend and Valerie [the Hydrovane] worked flawlessly. Saturday we used her on a beam reach and she worked as expected. The big news was how she performed dead downwind. I have had so many people with [popular servo pendulum windvane] and other vanes including HVs tell me not to worry about lack of performance DDW. I have taken that as my new challenge. Saturday we sailed wing on wing, DDW with a boat speed of 4kts and an apparent wind of 3kts and she kept us right on course. Yesterday we were wing on wing in 25kts true with bigger seas. It was a wild ride and a little more of a challenge for the HV but we didn’t have to touch the helm.

Nelda and I did get to meet Will and Sarah. They are a great couple and we had a lot of fun. They do need to work on their anchoring 😉 Their HV installation looks great!

[Editor’s note: Our windlass solenoid switch got stuck in the up position…eeek!!]

That’s it from here. We are off to the States for a few weeks before we jump off the first of April.

Larry

From: Uku
Sent: February-17-12 10:29 AM
To: Will Curry
Subject: Ahoy

Hi Will,

How are you?

Its me – Uku. I did my trip around the world alone. This takes from me 1 year and one month.

With Hydrovane, it was perfect!

I’m thankful for your Hydrovane!

All the best to you and your team,
Uku

From: Rob Bell
Sent: February-08-12
To: ‘Will Curry’
Subject: RE: Website info

Hi Will

It took us a while to get the hang of things using our Hydrovane as I explained before, but now we hardly every sail anywhere without using ‘Henry’ (named after Henry the Navigator.)

You could introduce a fun section to your website inviting owners to submit the names they have called their units. You could always use this another day for a good PR story. I bet there are some good ones out there!

We also found the idea of marking the control line wheel with two colours of reflective tape really helpful and it made a big difference when setting up each time.

Many thanks for a great product and support.

Best wishes

Rob & Sarah Bell

Travel Log: www.rhbell.com

From: Sailmail Address
Sent: February 11, 2012
To: Valerie Williams
Cc: John Curry
Subject: The new rudder – A revelation

Hi Valerie & John

Just a note from the Pacific to let you know we’ve tried out the new rudder and it works a treat. It was gratifying to learn that it was definitely the rudder and not us that was the problem! She’s now holding a nice straight course, even with just the Parasailor up on a reach in a bit of swell. I’m sure it will get even straighter as we become more familiar with tweaking it.

Along with the Duogen, I think we may have found our star performers for our circumnavigation. Unfortunately we have not been so lucky with the generator and have had to give up on it; very frustrating.

We are motoring towards Galapagos now in a dead calm after a couple of days’ great sailing. All we need now is wind and we’re away again…

All the best,
Jonathan & Heather
S.V. matilda

From: J. Peter White
Sent: February 06, 2012
To: John Curry
Subject: Hydrovane just saved my boat, and maybe more… [Emergency Rudder]

I have a C&C 39 with a semi-balanced spade rudder. My intent was to go off-shore sailing with my family. To ensure that I did not have to worry about the rudder, I had xxxxxxx design me a new, updated rudder. I then had xxxxxxx build the new rudder. And to really be sure, I put a Hydrovane on the back of the boat.

Myself and my two young boys (10 and 12) were entering between the two rock breakwaters of the Nuevo Vallarta channel down here in Mexico. Well, the channel into the marina was running quite a bit of a swell, with breaking waves along the rocks. My youngest son was at the wheel, so I told him to speed up so we could try to keep ahead of the waves and not broach going in.

As we entered between the two rock breakwaters he started yelling that he could not steer. I grabbed the wheel and nothing. We were veering off towards the rocks of the breakwater at close to 5 knots. Thinking the steering cable broke I hit the autopilot. I could see it turning the shaft and still nothing. People started waving us off and passing pangas started yelling at us to get away from the rocks. I put the boat hard in reverse and then the waves started hitting us. According to the depth sounder we should have hit bottom, and I thought we are either going to be smashed against the rocks or we were going to get knocked down. From backing hard into the waves the cockpit started to get flooded.

Then I remembered the Hydrovane right behind me. I pulled the pin and pushed it over hard, and before you knew it we are back in the channel, and at the slip. Looking at the boat from the side we saw that the rudder was completely gone. We later found it drifting in the channel. The shaft had sheared off, perhaps from corrosion from some as yet undetermined source.

This was the day before yesterday and just wanted to say ‘thanks…’

Peter (Kai and Liam) White
SV Outrider

From: Gavin MORGAN
Sent: November 19, 2011
To: John Curry
Subject: RE: Teething problems

John,

Just to let you know that we have now arrived in Cape Verdes (some 980 miles at sea with 85 % under the Hydrovane). The problem was not one of a lack of balancing the sails as you had suggested (I find Hydrovane very forgiving actually). We had another Brit who had fitted Hydrovane in Gibraltar have a look at our set up and we found that the rudder was slipping on the shaft. I had thought we had tightened it sufficiently and I did not want to over tighten it and damage the shaft. However the casting needed to be a lot tighter than I had imagined. With this put right the Hydrovane sprung in to life and is now deemed amazing by all on Secret Smile.

I mention about the rudder shaft tightening in case any other client makes the same mistake. In my experience unbalanced sails only means wobbly lines on the chart plotter – and when you work out if you are luffing up or not you can adjust the main (or the foresail) to smooth out your course. Our problem had been that hydrovane looked like it was turning but no turn happened (I was wondering if the rudder was big enough to turn my boat – which now I realize was rubbish and it makes me smile)

Hydrovane has now become an invaluable crew member and we are very pleased with him.

Kind regards

Gavin

From: Amanda Springate
Sent: December-13-11
To: Will Curry
Subject: RE: Hydrovane Parts

Hi Will

The Hydrovane is fitted to a Hallberg Rassy 40 I will look for some photos. As far as performance is concerned i was amazed. I fitted it to the new boat because the circumnavigation would take us to parts of the world where it would be possible to get some rudder damage, I did not really think about it as self steering gear, just an emergency rudder. I needed something and it was the easiest to fit four bolts and about three hours.

We sailed from uk to gibraltar with the electronic auto pilot. Sailing from Gib to the Canaries we got not very nice weather 30+and big seas maybe 4 meters off the quarter. The auto pilot would not deal with these at all well. I set up the hydrovane for the first time which basically meant setting the vane into the wind and pulling out the pin. After about 15 minutes the boat was sailing beautifully and used no power – what a bonus. We have never looked back.

It has steered my wife and I on Riff Raff most of our 32000 mile voyage. With just one of us on watch at night going down wind when the squalls hit it would just would just go the wrong way for half an hour or so without having to wake up the other. I can’t speak highly enough about it.

Once overhauled it will be bolted back on ready for a trip back across the Atlantic next year.

Kind regards

Rob Springate

From: Allen Simis
Sent: November-27-11
To: Will Curry

Hi Will,

It sounds as if EcoTec will stand behind its product, that’s great. Thanks for your assistance in that matter. I’ll paste a response that I received from them, on the tail end of this email.

We are very happy with the performance of our Hydrovane. I’m sorry for not having sent pictures of the install; I will try to do that this week. We have sailed about 4800nm with it since we installed it less than a year and a half ago ( 3 legs between Fiji, and Majuro). The trips have had the wind in every quarter, and on average 3-4 squalls a day. The winds have ranged from very light (8-12kts) to Heavy (40-55kts). The Hydrovane has handled it all.

We are still trying to figure out the perfect balance for Love Song. We have hydraulic steering, and it sometimes takes several degrees of rudder to trim it all out. Even with that we are very happy with the unit. The rudder has developed some twist to it. I don’t think it is hindering the operation of the unit, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

Once again, thanks.
Sincerely
James Simis
S/v Love Song
Majuro, RMI

From: Rachel Hibberd – World Cruising Club
Sent: December-02-11
To: Will Curry
Subject: Hydrovane comments from Watergaw ARC

Hi,

Thought you’d all like this from the log of Watergaw in the ARC:

——

We have not said much about equipment, except for mentioning things that have given us trouble (even if self- inflicted, like the spin pole), but some folk (the geeks amongst you) might be interested. If we have nothing more important to impart, we will pick something – good or bad – and give you a few words about it.

For today’s sermon, we will talk about the Hydrovane. There are several types of wind vane, which control the rudder and course of sailing boats, and avoid the sometimes tiresome task of hand steering (though most of us enjoy this, but not for 3000 miles!).

I took a bit of persuading that investing a small lottery win in a less than pretty (sorry, but it has to be said) addendum to the stern of a yacht was a smart thing to do. They are the preserve of the anorak brigade and sea hippies, and let them keep them, I thought! With some reluctance, we acquired one and had it fitted in Gibraltar, as much because it is also a spare rudder in case a passing whale (see earlier post) deliberately or accidentally destroys your primary steering gear with a casual flick of a tail. Missing St Lucia and hitting Brazil because you can’t control your course would not be popular with all of the crew.

We gave it a fair workout in the western Med, not in Atlantic conditions, but began to warm to its attractions – at about the same rate as we worked out its idiosyncrasies (like how you have to strip down to your underwear or worse and go off the back of the boat to put the rudder on (funds are available to buy the negatives of the photos taken by the hen party boat off Formentera island) ).

We played around with it en route to the Canaries with the full crew, and started to really understand it’s potential. It does not whine and groan in the way the boat’s main autopilot does (or a grumpy crew mate!). It seemed to cope well with big swells, though it does take a bit of time to return us to our original course if we have skied down a big one.

Since we left the Canaries, it has steered the boat faultlessly for almost all of the 1400 miles we have run. It clicks and clacks a bit, sometimes clunks when it has to make a big course correction, and responds (slowly but steadily) to tweaking of the control line from the cockpit. All in all, a worthy addition to the crew complement and proof positive that even an old cynic can be persuaded to revise his opinion. 8 out of 10 (lifting rudder would get it full marks)

——

Rachel Hibberd
Communications Executive

World Cruising Club
120 High Street, Cowes PO31 7AX, UK