From: Mark Owen
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 3:25 AM
To: John Curry
Subject: Hydrovane

John

Just thought I would drop you a quick line as we have just returned from our first proper shakedown trip with our new Hydrovane. The kit done exactly what it said on the box and steered us accurately for over 800 miles. Even when the boat was obviously unbalanced, when running under main alone we were able to maintain our course. However, the Hydrovane soon taught us how to get the best out of our boat, and we learnt a great deal on the ideal sail trim during our trip.

We experienced one minor problem which I will come and see you about at Southampton. We appear to have some vertical movement on the top yoke type casting which tends to rise and fall as the vane is loaded and unloaded, this caused the worm and the gear to jam together and make remote adjustment difficult if not timed properly.

Anyway apart from this small teething problem we are very pleased with our new crew member and look forward to further adventures together.

Ps. As promised I have attached a couple of photos of the installation for your archive, although not evident from the pictures, the spacing teak pads were cross laminated from two pieces of 15mm teak glued at 90 degrees to each other to ensure that they will never crack. This was on the advise of the excellent boat builders at Northney Marine Services who made and shaped the blocks for us.

Best regards Mark Owen

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