From: Peter Stonard
Date: January 3, 2014
To: Sarah Curry
Subject: Hydrovane

Hi Sarah,

A happy and healthy 2014 to you. I said I’d write a little of my experiences when my Hydrovane unit, “Horatio” took me around the planet on good ol’ Contessa 32′ “Ianda”.

I can only say that the unit did all it says on the box. Handling a modest yacht of around 5 tonnes fully laden was no problem for the Hydrovane in both heavy weather and quiet conditions. The ability to maintain a selected course was excellent from wind on the nose round to broad reaching. She did allow a bit of a wander down wind, as maybe expected; after all, all mechanical self steering systems are by their nature purely re-active and just like their human substitutes, don’t steer so well dead downwind!

The mechanics of the unit I consider well made and of robust design. I liked the idea of having good clearances on bearing surfaces and even after some 20 years of exposure to harsh conditions, nothing has seized or broken. The windvane with its drum tight covering of spinnaker like fabric shoots flying fish off in all sorts of interesting directions, albeit one of the larger fellows punched a hole clean through it.

My one bone of contention tho, is the rudder unit. After but a short period, the retaining pin, which is too small in diameter, wore the hole in the plastic rudder, somewhat oval and from then on the wind vane had to over compensate for the consequent slackness between rudder an main spindle. But it gets worse, on anchor the slightest swell would set up a clonking sound between rudder and pin which whilst not particularly noticeable when in the cockpit, drove me to distraction when below as the sound travelled thru’ the hull. I managed to mitigate this to some extent by drilling a hole thru’ the aft top corner of the rudder and tying it off tight to one quarter. This helped, but even with the addition of a strong bungy cord I never completely eradicated the clonking. I have since had to put stainless steel bushes in the rudder and increase slightly, the retaining pin diameter. You may say that the rudder should be removed when anchored but this entails the use of a dinghy, not always practical.

If it were possible I would suggest a re-design of the rudder unit to allow it to be removed easily from deck or to be swung up, out of the water when at anchor. Not an easy mod I grant you but [I think] worth consideration.

Graduations on the course setting mechanism would be a nice touch when altering direction. Every 10 degrees would be good.

[Editor’s Note:  Peter’s is a VXA1 model, no Remote Course Setting]

And so in summary, thank you for supplying a 1st rate unit, notwithstanding my comments on the rudder I have been very happy with dear ol’ “Horatio” and expect to remain so for a long time to come.

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