True Stories

From: Tim De Backer
Sent: January 06, 2022
To: Gloria Anderson
Subject: RE: Installation Hydrovane on Beta Leonis

Hi Gloria,

My best wishes for 2022 and good health for you and the whole Hydrovane Team !

We have made a very good crossing of the Atlantic ocean in December and this is also thanks to our new ‘iron crewmember’ !

The Hydrovane has been steering the whole passage, only in a few heavy sees and strong wind gusts we had to help a little by hand.

The promised functioning of the Hydrovane came true.

Concerning the parts we have to send back: is 2424 Haywood Ave | West Vancouver, BC  | V7V 1Y1 | Canada the correct address if we send it to Canada ?

Best regards,

Met vriendelijke groeten,

Bien à vous,

Tim De Backer

From: Nico Walsh
Sent: November 11, 2021
To: Will Curry
Subject: Question, loose transom nuts

I just completed a 300 mile run in 35 knots, the wind right astern most of the time. Pretty good seas. The vane was outstanding. I think it really is made for the Cabo Rico 34, which tracks so well in any case.

The nuts on the transom bolts had loosened when I checked after the sail. I re-torqued them (hard), and used Loc-Tite red. Any suggestions beyond that?

Nicholas

On Nov 12, 2021,  Richard Minielly wrote:

Hi Nico,

Thank you so much for the feedback. We love to hear honest feedback, as it provides us with crucial information on Hydrovane performance. Do you mind if we add your email to our Testimonials page?

Regarding the nuts, it sounds like you’ve done everything right to re-torque the nuts after your first large sail. On top of re-torquing and potentially adding Loctite (we don’t recommend it, but there is no harm in adding it and great peace of mind), the only other solution would be to add an additional lock nut onto the bolt, further preventing any loosening.

As a side note, now that the Nyloc nut has been sealed with Loctite, you will need to replace the nut should you ever remove it. Loctite will damage the nylon inside the nut if it is adjusted once dried.

Thanks again for reaching out and don’t hesitate to reach out again with any questions at all.

Cheers,

Richard Minielly

From: Nico Walsh
Sent: November 12, 2021
To: Richard Minielly
Subject: Re: Question, loose transom nuts

I didn’t use Nylocs. I should have, certainly.

Go ahead and use the testimonial.

Nicholas

On Nov 12, 2021,  Richard Minielly wrote:

Ah – that likely explains the loosening. Loctite and/or a second nut on there should stop any loosening. The vibration, primarily from motoring, can loosen regular bolts over a passage. We use Nyloc nuts on the entire unit to prevent nuts vibrating loose over time.

Thanks for reaching out. Please let us know if anything else comes up.

Cheers,

Richard Minielly

I somras fick vår extra besättningsmedlem äntligen komma ombord. Vi bekantade oss på några långa ben mellan Sverige och Danmark. Ni kan läsa mer om installationen på vår hemsida (www.syayla.se) @hydrovane #hydrovane #vindroder #windvane #namedgreta

Translation: This summer, our extra crew member finally got on board. We got to know each other on some long legs between Sweden and Denmark. You can read more about the installation on our website (www.syayla.se) @hydrovane #hydrovane #vindroder #windvane #namedgreta

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Posted by: yachting_otters,

Date: October 12, 2021

Cascais to Canaries Passage – on day 1 our electric autopilot that had been fixed in Lisbon jammed, even when we turned it off we couldn’t hand steer. We had to uncouple the arm from the steering quadrant.

Once again it was @hydrovane to the rescue for 4 days and nights keeping us on track on our downwind passage, in fairly sizeable waves (built to approx. 3m)

#instasailing #westerlyyachts #oceancruisingclub #cruisingassociation #sailingcouple #sabbatical

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From: Miroslaw Kratochwil
Sent: October 07, 2021
To: Will Curry
Subject: S/V Rogata Dusza

Hi Will,

We have finally began our great adventure and started using the Hydrovane unit. After short periods of time required for familiarity we made first leg from Portugal to Canary Islands. It has been awesome experience. We haven’t touched the helm all week long even in rough conditions over 40kn wind and 3.5m waves. Hydrovane made it nicely. It is really worth the money.

Miroslaw and Krzysztof

Date:18 September 2021

Johnny Coco is its name. Otherwise known as a @hydrovane.
This little red sail and the contraption it sits on is what steers Sunpiper when we are at sea. On long and short passages it does 99% of the work needed to keep the boat going in the direction we choose.

On our last 29 days sail it came a time we’re we wanted to swim, but didn’t want to slow down the boat. So Johnny Coco steered the ship, a line and fender was tossed to trail behind and we held on as to not be lost in the deep blue!

The moto at @hydrovane is “Surviving your dream”. I think it matches Sunpipers crews wishes quite well!

Turns out @ondinepontier can keep up with a boat going 3.5 knots.

For all you panicking sailors out there. We always have an able crew member chatting with Johnny Coco when we swim at sea!

#velellavoyages #saillife #sunpiper #swimmingatsea #swimmingdeepblue

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Date: 28 September 2021

Passage from La Rochelle to Cascais: Approx. 4m waves, double what was forecast. Luckily they were behind us.

On the penultimate night we had 4m waves, 20-30kts wind. We had the sails goose winged and despite putting in a reef before nightfall, we reached speeds over ground we have never seen before on Caris. For context she typically sails at 5-6kts, surfing the waves we were averaging 9-11kts, reaching 15kts at one point!

We decided to both stay in the cockpit that night and micronap. MVP was @Hydrovane as our electric autopilot packed in the previous evening. Hand steering for two days and night would not have been fun! The Hydrovane did a fantastic job despite the waves and point of sail. Best boat decision to get one!

#instasailing #westerlyyachts #oceancruisingclub #cruisingassociation #sailingcouple #sabbatical #hydrovane

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Posted By: walkabout_gonesailing

Date: 5 August 2021

Let’s talk @hydrovane for moment…
With our plans to sail off into the blue and explore our amazing oceans, Hydrovane was always part of the plan.

A self steering windvane system plus an emergency rudder and insurers see it as a ‘third crew member’ for double handed sailing, it’s a no-brainier right?

But, having purchased our home-on-the-water, it already came with a purpose built A-frame and solar panels, not leaving us much room on our stern for our Hydrovane?!!

We spoke to Will Curry and the team at Hydrovane who talked us through various options and reassured us that the vane would fit. So we purchased, took delivery and engaged James at G A Marine to assist us in the installation.

Firstly, a huge thank you 🙏 to Will, Richard and the team at Hydrovane for their support, reassurance, positivity and face-to-face engagement.

Also a huge thanks 🙏 to James and John at G A Marine for their skill, grit and determination to ensure our Hydrovane fitted around so many other bits of kit that are on Walkabout’s back end!

We are blown away by these guys in the marine industry who believe in support, aftercare and doing a job right the first time 👌

We still need to finalise the installation and will post some pictures when we finally get out on the water to test it all out!

Walkabout certainly won’t win any competitions for the ‘prettiest backend’ 🤔 but it all plays an important part in our soon to be realised adventures on the high seas ⛵️🙌😁👌🐬💨 🌊

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Our mate Harry Hydrovane, steering us dead downwind in perfect balance with his favourite sail configuration wing on wing.

In light downwind trades this is our most effective sail and steering setup for distance, comfort and of course reducing power consumption. On occasion we do use our onboard autopilot for certain wind angles but it’s consumption is between 4-6 amps continuous, so for us using the Hydrovane with absolutely no electronics is a much more effective choice for lengthy offshore passages.
.
So far Harry has done a great job across the Atlantic, Pacific and many shorter crossings in between!

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From: Nicola Stamp
Sent: August 23, 2021
To: Will Curry
Subject: Re: Hanse 370 – Hydrovane model VXA2D S(shaft length)/E/H stubby vane

Hi Will,

Just to let you know that our Hydrovane has been worth every penny we spent, following what could have been a very difficult passage to the Canaries.

Our instruments failed with 2 days to go before landfall, which meant the Auto-helm couldn’t work, which at that point we’d been using.  Within minutes the vane was put in place and course set and with a few minor course adjustments on route, took us the rest of the way.

As a two hander sailing boat, we would have struggled with 48 hours of manual steering, however, the Hydrovane really has earned its place as the third crew member.

One minor issue with rudder ‘groan’, which after two goes at flattening off the radius isn’t resolved – anything else we should try?

Many thanks, Nicola

From: Will Curry
Sent: August 23, 2021
To: Nicola Stamp
Subject: Re: Hanse 370 – Hydrovane model VXA2D S(shaft length)/E/H stubby vane

Hi Nicola,

Thanks for taking the time to send this update.

It’s great to hear that your third crew member saved the day and performed their duties admirably.  Sometimes it takes an autopilot failure to get the vane in action.  I suspect you will use it most of the way across the pond now that you are comfortable with it.

Regarding the rudder you should be able to eliminate the ‘groan’ by creating a point on the trailing edge.  Can you send us a photo of what it looks like now?  Did you see the bit about this in the operation manual starting on page 14?  The drawing on pg.15 shows the various shapes – See https://hydrovane.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Operation-and-Troubleshooting-Guide-July-2021.pdf

Richard can advise further if you have questions.

Thanks again for the email.

Kind Regards,

Will Curry

From: The Fotherbys
Sent: August 23, 2021
To: Will Curry
Subject: Hydrovane

Hello Will, I just wanted to tell you how thrilled we both are with “DreamGirl”. I put out “Moksha” which means liberation in Sanskrit, but Ken said he would throw her in the water with that name. From the 1st time we used her I said, “she sails like a dream”. 

We have only had lighter wind sailing since we launched the boat this summer but she has worked exceptionally well. Ken lost his job. I had to keep telling him to get away from the wheel.

Our steering is stiff as it runs through a lot of pulleys and is center cockpit, so we do not have to lash the wheel to center. Could change with heavier winds.

Also installed an autopilot and got to use it for the 1st time last Sunday.  Again,  “Otto” ( no surprise there) and Dream Girl performed perfectly. It is like we have a new boat. Waited over 40 years for this. Ken will send a video at some point to you. For now here are the 2 together.

From: Sarah Curry
Date: May 1, 2021
Subject: Re: Hydrovane feedback and photos
To: Patrick Whetter

Hi Patrick,

Ah – you’re down under! That’s great.

Port Stephens was our FAVORITE stop on our sail down to Sydney. What a fantastic place to be able to stop and work.

We now have two boys (twins, almost 2 years old) and are continually inspired by other cruising families. We have been sharing time between our boat (now in Mexico) and Vancouver. We can definitely see a catamaran in our future when we can be aboard more full time.

We so appreciate your Hydrovane feedback and experience. If you have the chance, we’d love to know more:

• What conditions did you use the Hydrovane in?
• What were the lowest apparent wind speeds you could use the vane in?
• Did high boat speeds effect the vanes performance?
• What sail plan worked best for downwind conditions?
• Any other comments or photos

Thank you again!

Cheers,

Sarah

From: Patrick Whetter
Date: May 2, 2021
Subject: Re: Hydrovane feedback and photos
To: Sarah Curry

Hi Sarah,

We were very lucky to end up in Port Stephens, a great place and possibly one of the best and most varied waterways in NSW.

With regard to using our Hydrovane:

What conditions did you use the Hydrovane in?

• Whilst cruising full time we would use it just about all the time, with the exception of short trips under engine.

What were the lowest apparent wind speeds you could use the vane in?

• 8 knots was the minimum we would need for it to keep a reasonable course.

Did high boat speeds effect the vanes performance?

• Not really. A cruising cat is generally fairly heavy and doesn’t shoot off at high speeds in the gusts like racing versions do. In 3 years and 20,000miles I never found a limit or condition where it didn’t work.

What sail plan worked best for downwind conditions?

• Normal rig, main and jib or main and code 0. Our Cat has fixed stub keels that keep her tracking in a straight line in all conditions, I’m not sure what a boat with dagger boards would do?

Kind Regards

Patrick

From: Tim Kibodeaux
Date: May 16, 2021
Subject: Re: Hydrovane feedback for multihulls
To: Sarah Curry

In 2019, I ordered the Hydrovane for an upcoming circumnavigation on my 50 foot 1990 Prout catamaran.  After familiarizing myself with the installation instructions and watching the videos from Hydrovane’s official website, my father and I dove right in.  We opted for the backing plates and wooden pads sold optionally from Hydrovane.  The installation went as easy as could be expected for such a beefy piece of equipment.  I chose to follow Will Curry’s advice to mount it as far aft and to one side as possible, in order to get the best performance out of the vane.

We crossed from Panama to Galapagos and onto Hawaii using the Hydrovane for many miles.  We found it performed best with the heaviest of winds ; 20kts+, requiring very little adjustment.  The vane works fine at lower windspeeds but requires you to start with a well balanced sail plan.  We should always strive for a balanced sail configuration so this should be considered a good tool to teach you how to balance your individual boat.  Overall, we found the higher the wind speed and speed the boat moved through the water the better the Hydrovane performed.  It even performed perfectly downwind which, I read was a challenging point of sail for all vanes, especially on catamarans.  Our experience was, on downwind sails the Hydrovane would not require any adjustments for up to 8 hours at a time.  We found we required at least 12 kts of relative wind for the Hydrovane to be reliable in steering our boat which (in any point of sail), weights 24,000 tons.  Due to our boat’s size and weight, it takes 8 kts minimum wind speed for even the sails to be effective on our boat.

We have found even in confused seas close to land, the Hydrovane combined with our autopilot on a “vane setting” worked well together and reduced our power consumption over time significantly.

Shortly after departing Panama for Galapagos, our hydraulic steering began to leak and the autopilot motor eventually failed.  The Hydrovane was fully put to the test and performed well.  In this case it was a blessing that the Hydrovane works as an independent rudder which, is not integrated into the boat’s organic steering system.

I rate Hydrovane as one of my most valuable piece of kit.

I found getting in touch with Will Curry to be very easy when I had questions.  I personally prefer to work with smaller companies such as Hydrovane because they tend to focus on the product quality and satisfaction of their customers before closing shop each day.  I highly recommend working with Hydrovane and am pleased with its performance and the customer service experience I had with this company.

From: John Crews
Sent: August 09, 2021
To: Richard Minielly
Subject: Re: John D Crews – Hunter 410 – Hydrovane model VXA2D L(shaft length)/A/H

I still haven’t taken any great photos of the kit yet.  I promise that I’ll get some for you.

Meanwhile, I wanted to let you know that my 70 NM test went very well.  We had all of the wind conditions:  winds at 4 knots, winds at 10 knots, winds at 20 knots, winds at 25 knots, gusts at 30 knots.  It was perfect, as it gave me the opportunity to figure out how to adjust the settings along the way.  In all cases, the Hydrovane steered us beautifully and I rarely touched the helm (only when a power boater decided to cut across our bow to impress his friends).  I also learned in that case that the installed rudder will easily overpower the Hydrovane and allow me to steer the boat manually without the vane fighting much at all.

One interesting detail that I noticed in high winds:  when a gust adds heel to the Stargazer, it further de-powers the wind vane and she naturally turned us into the wind until the heel released.  Every time.  I like this side effect very much.  My dog also seemed to appreciate it, and he demonstrated his enthusiasm for this effect by napping without waking up at all.

John