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windvanes

Philpott

Philpott

Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
Does anyone have a Norvane windvane? They are made in Carlsbad. Any feedback? They are $2000 less than a Monitor new. It's a servo-pendulum type windvane. I'd appreciate any comments. Tom @ Blue Pelican once told me that he deals only in Monitors and their parts because it is such a reputable product. A reputable product is one good reason to buy a Monitor, of course, and the ability to get parts at Blue Pelican another. But still. $2000.
 
I've never seen a Norvane but I'll hijack your thread anyway - muhahahaha!

With the STR* still in mind, I've thought about a windvane for Ragtime! as a backup to the electric AP's. As much as I like Hans and his Monitors, his is a one-size-fits-all solution and it simply weighs too much for my boat. The J/92 is especially sensitive to excess weight aft.

I looked at the WindPilot "Pacific Light" Adam had on Blue Moon. It appeared to be well-made and is much lighter than the Monitor. WindPilot's larger "Pacific" model is better suited to my boat (at racing speeds/loads) but weighs as much as the Monitor, so I'm thinking about a "Pacific Light" to be used only as a backup.

I pretty sure if Hans designed a Monitor for smaller boats (20-25# lighter), he'd have some customers.

* Solo Tahiti Race
 
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I apologize in advance for the gratuitous boobs on Peter's site. Maybe they're Tahitian or something.
 
Jackie, I plan to install a Navik on my cal 2-27 this week. I'll let you know how it goes. Navik's are cheap, relatively available, lightweight, and get great reviews.
 
ronnie simpson said:
Jackie, I plan to install a Navik on my cal 2-27 this week. I'll let you know how it goes. Navik's are cheap, relatively available, lightweight, and get great reviews.
Click to expand...

As of several years ago, the Navik was out of production.

That said, it's the only vane I've ever used and I love 'em. The only drawback is that it's extremely difficult to take the pendulum oar out of the water when the boat is moving, and essentially impossible to put it back in. Also, when installing/removing the pendulum oar anywhere but the dock, you run a risk of seriously mashed fingers.

Aside from that, it's a great product...light and durable and powerful.
 
Thank you, Alan and Ronnie. I have heard positive things about the Navik, also that parts are hit and miss to find. So, would it be possible to take the pendulum oar out of the water while hove to? Are other windvanes easier to manage? I think I would have to see this process first hand. Maybe some time in the next year?
 
yes, you can remove the pendulum oar when hove to. Turns out that "Mister Vee", a company that manufactures it's own windvane, which incorporates Jan Alkema's "upside down vane' concept into their product, makes a few spare parts for the Navik. The stinker...you have to have a good supply of them....is the little plastic linkages. They're stupid-easy to drop overboard.

I sometimes see Navik vanes for sale on ebay.

Ruben Gabriel used a Navik on his SHTP in 2008 with the Pearson Electra. Ed Ruszel used a Navik on his SHTP in his Yankee 30. I used a navik to cross to Hawaii on a Ranger 29 in 1998, and had a Navik on the SC27 in 2008. Navik vanes did a whole lot of the steering on two of the three LongPacs that I've done: INternational H-Boat, Santana 30-30 and Santa Cruz 27. Unfortunately, the vane hit something in the middle of the night, about 5 days out in 2008, which destroyed the pendulum rudder and made the vane useless for the rest of the 2008 SHTP. I wound up using an Autohelm 1000 for nearly the entire trip, until I had to switch to my backup ST2000 a day and a half away from Hanalei.

I know that the SS Yankee Dolphin, "Big Dot" was steered all the way to Hawaii in 1996 by a Navik vane.

If you have a small boat, the Navik is a really good vane.
 
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Philpott said:
If only I had a navik. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Thanks, Alan.
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To my mind, the 2-27 is right on the edge. Absolutely a Navik would steer it just fine. On the other hand, they're out of productions and parts are basically impossible to get. A 2-27 doesn't really "need" an ultralight vane.

A Monitor vane is much heavier, but then, you don't have an ultralight, in that 2-27, eh? The Monitor is produced locally and spare parts are all over the place. Monitor windvanes come up for sale all the time on Craigslist and Latitude 38. A monitor, even a used one, will cost a lot more than a Navik, if you can find one. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

John Guzzwell used a Hydrovane on "Endangered Species" and really liked it, but it works differently from the Monitor...and the Navik.
 
Monitor Wind Vane Value

I agree with Alan that a Monitor Wind Vane will cost more, but although I never buy any sailboat-related equipment with an eye to getting my money back, if I were to gamble on doing this, a used Monitor Vane just might be what I'd bet on. They're practically indestructible, the basic design hasn't changed, and parts are available in case something does break. And, someone is almost always looking for one or has one for sale. The emergency steering alternative is also appealing.
- Pat
 
"A Monitor vane is much heavier, but then, you don't have an ultralight, in that 2-27, eh?" Alan

Are you suggesting that my boat is fat? I didn't even know there was gear advertised on Latitude! Never scrolled down. And there is a Monitor for sale. Well, la di da. Thanks
 
Philpott said:
"A Monitor vane is much heavier, but then, you don't have an ultralight, in that 2-27, eh?" Alan

Are you suggesting that my boat is fat? I didn't even know there was gear advertised on Latitude! Never scrolled down. And there is a Monitor for sale. Well, la di da. Thanks
Click to expand...

Not, "fat" but maybe "comfortable"?? LOL

Check Craigslist. Use one of those "search craigslist" engines, like Tempest. I just did, and found about 5 Monitor Vanes and two Aries vanes for sale in California. Also, about 3 weeks ago, a Navik was for sale in the SF Bay area, but the advertisement has expired.
 
Just installed the Navik last week on the 2-27 and then sailed it from Oregon to Bodega Bay. Breeze shut off, so waiting a few days before finishgin the trip to SF.

Navik's are stupid cheap used, compared to other wind vanes.
The thing absolutely kicked ass. I did not touch the tiller once, until the breeze died. The Navik steered me around Cape Mendocino at 6 knots, under bare poles, as it was blowing upper 30's out. The thing did brilliant. Yes, you can heave to and pull the oar out of the water. I agree, carry the black plastic linkages. I dropped one overboard when taking the oar out. Thankfully, I had 1 spare.

Considering that used Navik's are practically free and that spare parts ARE available, I would recommend a Navik. Having used Monitor, Fleming, Aries and now Navik, I would get a Navik for a small boat like a 2-27. And yes, that heavy POS will surf. 11.8 under reefed main, no headsail. but it was blowing close to 40.... The Navik seemed to generate no "load' anywhere in the system. I don't see what would ever cause it to break, save for hitting something in the water.

I would consider the Navik the ideal vane for your 2-27

good luck!

oh, quick edit, she was "swerving" quite a bit, but in her defense it was very breezy and an extremely difficult sea-state, even for an electric autopilot.
 
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I have been using a Norvane on a Tartan 30C with a tiller since 2010..... It has worked very well.....Previously had used a Aries on a 39 foot steel cutter for probably 70,000 nm..... It was great, but required some scraping out of the bearing sockets about every 20,000 nm or so...

Have not put any significant miles on the Norvane yet.....

The Norvane is very similiar to the Flemming that is popular in Aus and NZ....
 
Just dropping in on the forums and saw this old thread and my old reply from more than 2 years ago...

Thought i'd chime in with an update on the Navik wind vane, seeing as how I am thoroughly impressed with it and find the Navik to be a good deal for any solo sailor with a relatively small boat.

My Navik wind vane "Francois" steered my Cal 2-27 'MONGO' the majority of the way across the Pacific from Oregon down to San Diego and then over to Hawaii, Fiji and New Zealand. The performance of the wind vane in all conditions from a lot of port tack upwind sailing, port tack reaching, dead down wind, broad reaching on both tacks, etc was phenomenal. I did not sail with spinnaker with the wind vane engaged and found the performance to be best when heating it up to a 2-sail broad reach if it was light to moderate breeze, or going deep downwind with poled out jib if it was sufficiently windy. 'Francois' steered for days and days on end, oftentimes never being dis-engaged and never accidentally tacking or gybing. Halfway from Hawaii to Fiji, a pressed-in pin worked itself out and was temporarily fixed with a cotter pin, but this induced slop into the system and the performance suffered. A pressed-in replacement was installed in Fiji and 'Francois' once again performed flawlessly on the way to New Zealand. I found tiller pilots to still work better in 0-12 knots of breeze though. The jointed connectors are easy to lose over board if not experienced with the wind vane and the biggest fault is the non-kick-up rudder that requires you to hang overboard to install, making it best done in port before leaving or when hove-to.

Navik wind vanes are extremely light weight and in my opinion best suited to boats under about 30'. With their cheap cost if you can find one, and spare parts floating around, they can make a great investment either for primary self-steering or light weight back-up for an electronic autopilot.
 
ronnie simpson said:
Just dropping in on the forums and saw this old thread and my old reply from more than 2 years ago
Click to expand...

Ronnie, Ronnie, Where. Are. You? After reading that old thread I went out and found a Navik, and it is still sitting on my patio chair in the backyard waiting to be installed. I had a bracket fabricated by Chris over at Svendsen's but have procrastinated all this time. Silly me. I have been meaning to strengthen Dura Mater's transom before installing it, but the idea of crawling into the lazerette and manipulating layers of epoxy-covered fiberglass cloth in there while in a state of physical contortion is just so off-putting that instead .... I notice that tiny breath of wind ... and I go out sailing instead. Every time.
 
Navik is a servo-pendulum vane. As such, when the vane flops over when the apparent wind goes to one side or the other (usually due to sea slop) the servo-oar swings over and two things occur: The movement and power of the oar is translated to the tiller, correcting the heading. As a result, the vane comes true to the wind for the heading which had been set, resuming a vertical stance. Since the servo-oar is free to swing, very little additional stress is transferred to the mountings/transom. So you should not need to "manipulate layers...while in a state of physical contortion".

I have thousands of miles of experience with servo-pendulum vanes on two 30 footers, but none with the Navik. Principles are the same. Main thing to remember is that the vane operates on the basis of apparent wind angle, trying to keep the angle which has been set. However, under circumstances such as surfing under spinnaker, as the speed of the boat surfs to a temporary higher speed, the apparent wind moves forward. The vane will attempt to correct for this and the result will be a zig-zag course downwind at best...or giant broach at worst. No big deal...experience will teach you how best to use the thing. I agree with Ronnie that the Navik would be a good match for your boat. Less weight hanging off astern is better. That's why Harrier has an Atoms vane instead of the stronger (and in my opinion, more effective) but much heavier Aries. And I use electric auto pilots to steer under spinnaker...fast operating ones!
 
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