True Stories

From: Scott R
Sent: June-14-09 2:59 PM
To: Will Curry
Cc: John Curry
Subject: Fantastic!!

Well Will, it was hard to wait for the 5200 to cure but I did. Next day sailed the Loon for 6 1/2 hours with about 15 minutes at the helm. When I pulled the vane pin I at first didn’t think anything was happening because the rudder movements/corrections were sooo small. I absolutely LOVE my Hydrovane!! My lady friend who races calls it “cheating”, but after a couple hours she was so impressed that she gave it a name, “Heidi”.

The Hydrovane performed absolutely flawlessly. It has surpassed my expectations. I would be sailing with it again today except that I’m fabricating my tiller handle and tiller-pilot installation to fit the Hydrovane.

Here are a few shots of my installation. As you can see I have kept the functionality of my swim step while also creating easy access to ship and unship the rudder. No reaching under. A little tip; Put a loops in your rudder tether line and hook a bungee inline so that you have to push down slightly to get the rudder under the shaft then let go and the bungee lifts it up into position. It’s very easy to pin the rudder if you don’t have to hold it up too.

Also is a photo of my new 3nm stern light mounted properly with the Hydrovane logo in full view. You guys ought to sell this fantastic little light. [Editor’s note – we now do!]

And finally, I’ve talked up the Hydrovane on E-dock at Shilshole for a year now. I really emphasize the emergency rudder and tiller steer capabilities of the Hydrovane and that it’s a clean install that doesn’t interface/interfere with your helm.

Cheers – Scott Ritchie
s/v Loon~Asea, Folkes 39

From: jean claude fleuret
Sent: May-08-09 4:07 AM
To: Will Curry
Subject: Testimonial Hydrovane

Hello Will,

Back at home, boat in Panama, waiting my return to go on Pacific.

In attach, some pictures of Hydrovane on my boat and a text in franch about the Hydrovane.

__________________________________

Après 180’000 milles nautiques, j’ai décidé de m’offrir un second efficace: Hydrovane remplit à merveille cette fonction.

Jamais un régulateur n’avait à ce point répondu à mes attentes; car j’ai déjà utilisé à bord de mes différents voiliers des régulateurs: un Atoms sur flettner adjoint au safran principal, un Aries, puis à nouveau un Atoms avec drosses sur la barre. Hydrovane vient de supprimer chaque point négatif des précédents.

Il est complètement indifférent, par exemple au portique et aux différents objets qui y sont attachés.

Il est sensible par petits airs, très efficace par vent supérieur à 7 Bft et reste totalement opérationnel quel que soit l’allure; c’est ainsi la première fois que mon second barre d’une manière experte par vent arrière.

De plus, il est très sobre esthétiquement, très robuste; son fonctionnement est simple, efficace; plusieurs réglages permettent d’adapter son comportement aux conditions de vent et de mer.

Seul point négatif; l’immergé ne se retire pas en mer, et au moteur par exemple, les vibrations sont importantes.

__________________________________

TRANSLATION (not precisely the same – Jean Claude has added some points – to keep his meaning the same)

After 180,000 nautical miles, I decided to give myself an upgrade: a Hydrovane that fills this function with wonder.

Never yet had a windvane responded to my needs; I’ve already used a number of different windvanes on board: an Atoms, an Aries, and then another Atoms. Hydrovane has superseded every negative point of the others.

It is completely indifferent to the arch and all its attachments.

It is sensitive in light airs, very efficient in winds greater than Force 7 and remains totally operational no matter how much wind; it is the first time that I feel an expertise in charge when heading downwind.

In addition, it is aesthetically pleasing to look at, and very robust. Its functionality is simple, and easy to operate. Multiple settings allow you to adapt its behaviour to the wind and sea conditions.

The only negative point is that the rudder cannot be removed while motoring which creates annoying vibrations; but it is nothing. I am sure it will be forgotten in my next navigation to the Horn.

__________________________________

Best regards, always in dispo.

Yours faithfully

Jean-Claude

From: Edward Morgan
To: will@hydrovane.com
Subject: Edward Morgan. Cal 39

Hey, Will.

Seems a long time ago that we last chatted about installing the Hydrovane in my Cal in Seattle.

We departed last August, and the vane did an enormous amount of the steering down the coast to San Diego, then to Cabo as part of the Baja Haha, then back up to La Paz where the boat is now.

Gotta say it’s a spectacular piece of gear, and worked flawlessly the whole way. But in decommissioning the boat for summer storage, we notice a crack in the lower plastic ring. We have not touched it either in installation nor down the coast so I suspect it was either a bit over tightened when originally assembled or there was a flaw in the plastic somewhere.

[Editor’s note – The Bottom Collar is now available in stainless steel – no more cracking.]

Cheers

Ted Morgan

From: rya email
Sent: April-24-09 9:20 AM
To: John Curry
Subject: Hydrovane

Hi John

Yesterday we had our first sail in Kea with the new Hydrovane fitted. It was a perfect day for getting to know the gear, 15kts of wind and no sea. The gear performed as expected and we are very pleased. We are off on our summer cruise to Scotland soon and we are happy to have an extra crew signed on, especially one that does not need food and sleep!

I have one small comment about the fitting which was straightforward and that is that in your drawing of the Nicholson 32 stern the waterline shown is the designed waterline when in fact the boats float somewhat lower when fully loaded. I failed to spot this and as a result I fitted the gear is lower than I would have liked. With 2″ clearance between the bottom bracket and the bottom of the bearing tube the rudder shaft is immersed to the level of the hole for the locking pin and so the rudder is correspondingly lower in the water. This is not a major problem and if necessary I will raise the bottom bracket next winter.

[Editor’s note: As surmised, the height of the shaft is not important. Our only reason for the specified height is to keep the shaft out of the water – avoid growth. When raising it be sure to keep the bracket clamp well clear of the bottom bearing – not to pinch it. We suggest 2 inches of stainless tube showing – although it could be a bit less.]

Many thanks for a great piece of kit.

Best wishes

Chris

Subject: Fantastic – First Time Out With Hydrovane
From: Paul Sellers
Date: Mon, April 20, 2009 6:28 am

————————————————————————–

What can I say ­ it works flawlessly on any point viz. close to the wind, broad reaching or downwind it made no difference.

The other astounding feature precluding any need for anything like a tiller block is that we simply put the tiller in an upright vertical position (unlocked) and the Hydrovane did all the rest including tacking and a controlled gybe ­ all simply by pulling the string. Incidentally on this latter point can the string be as short as you want or should it be of an ideal length ­ we simply used it kite like yesterday with an end held in each hand.

Similarly Bill was absolutely right as far as leaving the rudder stock in and locked for an aft position when manoeuvring in the marina confines ­it made little appreciable difference in reverse and if anything if improved in a go-forward aspect.

Although so far only experienced for a few hours it does seem a marvelous piece of engineering and the set-up just works as they say it does exactly what it says on the outside of the tin!

Best wishes – Paul

In Paul’s research for a Hydrovane he discovered the owner of another Vancouver 32 who has had a Hydrovane for many years. The following is more of our dialogue with Paul including the response he got from ‘Jabril’:

From: Paul Sellers
Sent: December-04-08 6:45 AM
To: John Curry
Subject: FW: Hydrovane for Vancouver 32

Will and John

Thanks for these prompt responses I think my preference if only aesthetically is for a centreline installation such as Jabril’s but needless to say I now feel assured about the manoeuvrability question – indeed I am copying you with comments made by Jabril’s owner that only reinforce your own comments.

___________________________________

Hello Paul

Just caught up with all the various thoughts and advice coming your way re Hydrovane etc.

1/ the tube mountings around the rudder provide an exceptionally robust protection for your rudder in the marina and the Hydrovane is an exceptionally strong machine – things bounce off them!! (I never leave the auxiliary rudder in situ when moored up for any time – to stop erosion of the rudder shaft housing)

2/ the Hydrovane is amazingly sensitive in light airs, to the point that she will try to steer even when there is not enough wind to sail properly – in a reasonably heavy V32 that needs 10k+ of wind to get going at all. ( as mentioned before it all comes down to sail trim)

3/ Never had any problems in astern – especially with a CJR or Kiwi prop giving you proper reverse thrust. Have had some very difficult mooring manoeuvres (single-handed!) in Dingle marina that is even tighter than Falmouth. Also many tight mooring games with strong tidal cross flow – the Hydrovane rudder does not seem to influence the astern “nuances” of a V32 – but have always had a variable pitch prop to help overcome all the natural sambas of a long keel hull.

4/ If the boarding ladder gets in the way of the mounting, take it off and use the Hydrovane mounts as the ladder. I sometimes sit on the tube mounts to lift heavy things onboard etc. also easier to get in and out of dinghy as the mounts project further out over
the Avon side and you can simply step straight in.

Give us a call when you get back and we can meet up.

_________________________________

Okay so you’ve assured me of any concerns so what now of how to get an installation arranged vis a vis design of the fittings (Hydrovane to Boat) etc and ultimately the actual fitting/installation of the Hydrovane – indeed do you have anyone in Falmouth UK who you feel confident about and could take this on as a turnkey project? I’m not proposing to use the hull fitting as steps as John does if only hopefully to reduce the weight of his construction. Indeed, I’d much prefer the typical Hydrovane tubular fittings.

Again thank you for your quick responses it gives a good deal of comfort to work with obvious professionals.

Best wishes – Paul

From: Steve – Offshore
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 3:55 PM
To: Ronald
Subject: Hydrovane

Hi Ronald,

Apologies for not replying sooner. Very busy and then thought I’d wait till I had some experience with it to report.

CHENG FENG arrived safely on 3rd March 2009 in Scarborough, Tobago after a 24 day passage from Gomera, Canary Islands . Single handed. The newly installed VXA 2D Hydrovane did the steering. I didn’t even bother to seatrial it before departure, knowing from your good self that it works on a NC40 ketch. I thought I’d work it out on the way. That took about 45 seconds.

It wasn’t the easy tradewind passage it’s supposed to be, we were beset by an almost continuous stream of showers and squalls, day and night. The wind varied in direction over the full NE quadrant and this created a cross sea most of the time. We sailed countless miles with seas on one quarter and the wind on the other, making for very difficult steering conditions. It was quite amazing to watch the Hydrovane deal with such conditions with only the apparent wind on the vane to control to.

I would recommend the VXA 2D Hydrovane to any NC40 ketch owner. As you say it gives you a nice peaceful ride, especially with no other crew on board.

I tried replying with this on the Nauticat group to something from you on Hydrovanes but it didn’t get through.

Best Regards,
Steve Burrows
NC40-054
CHENG FENG
Scarborough, Tobago

WINDVANES

Most important how will you use the boat? Will the usage justify the extra expense? Every boat is used differently.

Our boats have balanced ends and fairly long keels and well balanced sailplans so they tend to sail themselves. On one occasion I was broad reaching for 4 hours before I discovered the previous watch had disengaged the wind vane. Few boats will do this. Damn near any wind vane will steer these boats. The question is which one you want when it gets really nasty.

True, the servo pendulums increase their power with boat speed.

It means that they often, like an inexperienced helmsman, over-steer, causing oscillation, that results in an uncomfortable ride and ultimately loss of control and round-down and gybe or round-up and knockdown. Mind you this is in extremes, but that is just when you need precise reliable steering. We have never experienced that with the Hydrovane.

The independent rudder (Hydrovane’s) is so far aft that it is in clear, (non-turbulent) water and is very effective for its size. Being so far aft it exerts much power than the main rudder with a smaller angle of attack for less drag. I have stalled and ventilated the main rudder but not the Hydrovane.

In the Queens Birthday storm (6 yacht lost) the Hydrovane saved us days of exhausting steering and allowed us to pump, prepare food, rest, and make needed repairs. While in the big following seas, averaging over 10 knots under bare poles, the Hydrovane steered, most of the time, while a crewmember simply sat behind the wheel, “riding shotgun”. Under such circumstances fatigue is a serious and insidious problem, leading to pasivity and impared judgement and potentially deadly mistakes. When we attempted deploy a sea-anchor we, fell backward off a wave and busted our main rudder’s steering system, the Hydrovane carried on. I don’t know of any other unit that could stand up to that kind of punishment. With the boat’s main rudder inoperable the Hydrovane, alone, steered us 500 miles to Fiji .

In very light air, with less wind-speed and less boat-speed than the instruments can measure, I simply install a taller blade in the wind vane and adjust the counterweight.

I like that the cockpit is not cluttered with extra lines (safety issue) that; stretch, chafe, break and have to be fussed with. Be assured, I find no fault with Monitor or Flemming. They are fine products. It is just that hydrovane has proven itself and I feel is better for my boat and my purposes.

It took a little while to learn to use the device most effectively. It will be ready to go, right out of the box without any fussing or fine tuning. It taught me to balance the boat better and I am a better sailor for it. I am sure that is true of any wind vane. Not so with electric autopilots. When powering, I steer with an inexpensive Simrad T-10 tiller pilot actuating the hydrovane. When you compare the cost of an under-deck autopilot to the cost of combined the Simrad T-10 and Hydrovane the decision becomes quite obvious.

Electric autopilots have been improved enormously in the last few years, yet they are dependant upon the 12 Volt system, the most vulnerable and least reliable system in the boat. Reliability of 12 volts systems and solar panels have also improved enormously. I consider self-steering too important to be reliant upon the 12 volt system, particularly for singlehanders and couples. For the same reason I have a manual anchor windlass. I have never seen an electric windlass with satisfactory manual override. It is true that the single-handed around the world racers use powerful electric autopilots, most of us do not enjoy neither their budget nor their technical support nor short duration of voyage.

The secret to using this unique wind vane when reaching or running in light-air/big-sea conditions it to dial in a little weather helm into the main rudder and a little lee helm into the wind vane. That way if the boat falls off and the apparent wind is consequently reduced, the boat will naturally head back up again. When a puff comes she will drive off, just as a talented helmsman would do, which is just what you want. I don’t know of another system that will do that, again it is a safety issue, as well as better VMG.

I urge you to get together with the other owners, no matter what brand you buy, to order together and get a better price. It is an important investment, so do get it right. In terms of cost per mile the price difference becomes negligible.

Almost any boat is OK on the bay, but we bought MARY T because she would look after us, outside where things can get ugly. It is just the same with wind vanes. Almost any wind vane will do, on the bay, outside it is a different story. If you have a family, think on it.

Your timing is auspicious. The U.S. dollar is strong against the Pound, for the moment.

I have been in contact with John Curry of Hydrovane. He is willing to work with you on price, as much as he can, because of the number of boats involved. I urge you to contact John, (Google; Hydrovane) for the full story. He is very pleasant and approachable. He is a modest, no bull-shit kind of guy, rare in the industry.

Sigmund

Mary T (Cheoy Lee Offshore-40 yawl)

Sig

From: Mike Eastman
Sent: February-05-09 3:09 AM
To: Will Curry
Subject: Hydrovane parts

Hi Will

Of course, do use our recommendation – will look out a photo or two as well.

Re parts – we’ve done 28000 miles, suspect the vane gear has not been serviced since at least one Atlantic circuit before that – or possibly not since fitted (6 Atlantic crossings + several thousand more in the Pacific and the Med now under her keel)! So, well overdue for some new bits.

I spoke to Geoff soon after we got the boat and he recalled (and I think had records of) fitting the unit to our boat 1984.

Many thanks and kind regards

Mike

From: Bruce Greaves
Sent: February-12-09 2:57 AM
To: Will Curry
Subject: RE: Hydrovane Order

Hey Will – what a beautiful gadget – got it on and working this arvo (Australian slang for ‘afternoon’) – fabulous – some pics attached for your pleasure – Bruce

From: Denny Flannigan
Sent: February-13-09 11:13 AM
To: Will Curry
Subject: vane

Will, thanks for taking the time to introduce me to your Dad at the show. You guys seem like a great team. Attached are a few photos of the modifications we did to make the hydrovane work on my boat.

Will, as you know I bought a used Hydrovane last year and then modified it to fit my boat. I am lucky as the unit I bought was only a few years old and was a good match for my boat, otherwise a new one might have made more sense. Over the past year you have treated me like I bought the unit from you. That is a testament to your customer service.

Last summer my wife and I set off on a summer sail to San Francisco, Hawaii and back to Tacoma. We raced to Hawaii then brought the boat back.

When we left Hawaii to come home to Tacoma we engaged the Hydrovane for its 1st real test. Over the next 19 days we saw winds from 5 kts to 45 knots. The hydrovane was great and other than an adjustment here or there to account for the different wind speeds, it drove the whole way. We debated long and hard about which vane to buy for our future cruising and am glad we made the choice we did. Great vane and great service, what more could we ask for.

Denny Flannigan

S/V Kokomo

From: Peter Baggenstos
Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2008 2:05 PM
To: Cynthia Yates
Subject: Hydrovane Parts

Dear Cynthia

After my steering broke the Hydrovane was indispensable for me more then ever. Having the emergency tiller lashed I sailed over 3000 miles from Trinidad to Brazil/Recife using the Hydrovane. Unfortunately one day I noticed that the ratio knob cover was broken and the bolt was bent I don’t know for which reason (see fotos attached). So I had to do ad hoc-fixing of this problem.

Salvador, BA Brazil

SY Lady Lay

From: Mike Brown
Sent: December-04-08 4:42 AM
To: john
Subject: Ebbtide 33

Hi John,

Mike Brown here from NC. A quick note from the middle of the Atlantic. On my way to the Caribbean,

8 days out of NC with some very sloppy weather. I had no chance to try the Hydrovane out until I actually got underway and I must say was not disappointed when I finally was able to engage the unit. I had made a mount for my autohelm which worked great and after a few days got some wind.

Right now we’re about 250 miles south of Bermuda, force 6-7 NE wind and running hard. The boat is way over powered, but in hand, the vane handling it magnificently. I’m trying to outrun another strong norther two days behind….. I’ll send you some installation pictures when I get a chance from a land based computer. Thanks for your support and I am working on another sale for you back in Beaufort.

The Hydrovane is one of the few pieces of gear I have bought in the last ten years and not been disappointed with. It’s a quality product that does everything promised, and more.

Take care,

Mike

From: Mike and Kathy
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 11:30 AM
To: Linda Suter
Subject: new Hydrovane for Cgull Seeker

Sir

We live on our boat and wander on the east coast of the USA and down to Mexico. It seems you have moved from England since I last looked. We previously owned a Dickerson 35 built in 1965 which had a 1972 Hydrovane. It worked in all the conditions we sailed in from 40 knots in the gulf stream to flat calm loss of steerage. Mike single handed from 89 to 93 before Kathy came along and it was great. We sold the Procyon in 2000 with the Hydrovane. She sank in 2005 and a friend of ours bought the Hydrovane which sails on a 27 foot sloop now and Mark loves it.

Cgull Seeker our current home had a number 18 Monitor on her when we bought her. It worked but failed to steer below about 3 knots and wouldn’t tack. Now it may be a Hydrovane won’t tack Cgull Seeker but we want to see. We do have to back the staysail to get around usually. We do wear around if we have the sea room.

Cgull Seeker is steel and I propose to weld the brackets to the stern and I believe the HA mount seems to be what we may want. We will have to haul out to do this and we are planning to haul next year in September. We are currently headed for the Bahamas for the winter but we wanted to open communications and ask for any advice or instructions to plan our installation.

Cgull Seeker is a Holland 40 built in 1955 in Holland designed by Henk Tingen

Mike and Kathy Moore

From: Stan & Lynn
Sent: November-29-08 4:31 PM
To: John Curry
Subject: Homers’ Odyssey

Hola John;

Back afloat in Ecuador after some land travels in Ecuador & Peru. Off towards Panama in a few days.

Attached should be a few pics of our Hydrovane after 24 years since launching & 33, 000 miles.

Hope to stop in again next summer if we are in Vancouver.

Best regards, Stan & Lynn Homer

From: Bill Wickman
Sent: November-15-08 3:06 PM
To: John Curry
Subject: hydrovane performance

Hi John,

We’re home after two fairly long passages and several shorter runs traversing islands as part of the great coconut milk run. If you remember, you sent some of the new bearings to a friend of ours and he brought them to Tonga where we installed them. We really didn’t get much chance to evaluate the system until we departed Tonga from

Nuku’Alofa on the 10th of October heading for Opua in the Northland of New Zealand.

Cut to the chase…I believe the new bearings and the mid-bearing had a positive impact on Hydrovane performance. I believe overall operation is smoother and that our boat, a Wauquiez Centurion 42, steers better with the vane than it did before we installed the new bearings. We were pleased with performance before and rather than reiterate our previous experience let me just outline where I believe the improvements were most obvious.

With the vane set in the full left  setting (least rudder movement) we got good steering performance in less relative wind than we had previously. We were also able to get smooth performance with the vane set in the middle position in less relative wind than previously. We therefore used the middle position more often and got better steering performance from the increased rudder deflections, when needed, than previously. The tendency to get thrown off course by a combination of  ave and wind shift and not have enough power to regain course relative to the wind was almost completely eliminated. During the trip from Tonga to NZL this happened once that I can remember. The Hydrovane steered the entire trip except when we were motoring and during one squall where I thought there might be some severe conditions (which never occurred) and I hand steered for about an hour. We still have never encountered conditions where the far right (greatest rudder deflection) setting works best for our boat.  We very seldom encountered winds over 30 knts and in those winds the center position still worked more smoothly than the far right position. Perhaps if we had consistent relative winds above the 25-30 knots the far right position would be better for us but that’s still speculation on my part.

So, I’ll say again, I think the new bearings are good. We were happy with performance before but we’re more happy now. I really don’t think I could ask for more from a wind oriented self steering device. I’ll also say that the construction has proven to be just as bullet prove as it looks. We put 8283 NM under the keel in seven months this trip and did nothing to maintain the unit except take the rudder and wind vane off when we weren’t going to be using them for a while and hose down with fresh water if it hadn’t rained recently. I sprayed the unit with WD-40 when we took the boat out of the water in NZL.

We plan on being back in NZL in March or April to start another trip up into the tropics. With a little luck we’ll see you somewhere on the boat show circuit before then.

Thanks John,

Bill & Janet Wickman

SV Airstream