windvane, wind generator

I am thinking of fitting both these pieces of equipment on my Swan 40 this winter.      I would love to hear about other people's experience with different manufacturers' equipment.

In particular:

- windvane: ease of setup ?    performance downwind in a following sea ?

- windvane: noise level versus charging efficiency ?

Many thanks

Richard Forrest

Just back from nice and windy vacations...
Last year I installed an AirX Marine on my 411 and I am very glad of it. It gives a lot of power and I do not need to run my engine anymore.
Noise... this is another story and I will not even try to convince anybody that the AirX goes unnoticed. After a while the owner (myself) does not care and enjoys the fridge and reading late but I know that some neighbors do not appreciate it.
On the other hand in marinas with shore power and neighbors I switch it off while in bays possible neighbors are free to stay far.
The shut-off switch is a marvel of simplicity and in windy nights I use it.
Someone says that with some careful sanding and painting the blades become less noisy but I have not tried it.
I used the factory kit with rubber dampers to install it: after getting the right s/s tubing everything is pretty straightforward but, I reckon, not a really beautiful addition to the perfect lines of a S&S Swan. In the future I may try to devise something more proper.
Daniel, 411-004

HI Richard,

Hope all is well!! Anyway as you know we are in planning mode for our sabbatical and the issues put forward are on my list as well.
Regarding the Wind Generator.

Practical Sailor and the seven seas crusing association endorse the KISS system see http://www.kissenergy.com/

Seems to be a high output and quiet system. Those that I have talked to about them are very happy with them. I plan to buy one of these for our 40.

As for the Wind vane. I again have talked to a lot of people and looked at the ARC surveys. I am thinking about a Wind Pilot http://www.windpilot.de/en/Ra/rawelen.html Those that have them love them. They have two systems the Pacific and Pacific + which fit our boats. Take a look, the plus gives you an emergency rudder as well as not requiring the spider web of lines in the cockpit. The Pacific seems to be easy to remove so if you are not using it you can easily take it off and admire the great lines of our 40s.

Sounds like you are thinking of some distance sailing ???

All the best

Mike

Storm Svale

P.S. Are you coming back to DK this winter?

Dear Mike, it is great to hear from you; I knew I could count on your contribution.     I really miss the family dinners you and Tanya were kind enough to host for a solitary Brit.      Unfortunately I will not be returning to Denmark this winter as the Caledonian Canal is not really my favourite sailing ground and the Pentland Firth sounds a bit too hairy for an aging novice.   Moksha will be spending the winter near Glasgow then in April I am heading south: in spite of my Scottish genes "Summer" in Scotland has boosted my motivation to seek warmer, drier climes.

I have also reached the conclusion that more experienced people knew already, that electric autopilots consume vast quantities of ampere-hours and are only reliable in a flat calm under power (I exaggerate of course but not much), hence my focus on windvanes and wind generators.

When is your "D" for departure day ?

Keep in touch.

All the best to you and your sailing family.

Richard

Richard,

I have not tried either a wind vane or a wind generator on my 411. I rely on an electric autopilot and a towed generator. Aquair produce a towed generator which produces 1 amp/knot of speed and it is completely silent, provided you fix it with adquate degrees of freedom. I simply tie mine on with three lanyards and that works very well. I am sure you lose a bit of speed, but I am not a racing man. If you are sailing the Trade Wind route you will be sailing down wind all the time so the apparent wind is not that great. I sailed across the Atlantic with a wind generator on someonelse's boat and it did not provide much power in my view. the towed generator on the other hand "paid for" the fridge and most od the autopilot!

Wind generators are great in the Caribbean at anchor, but they don't half make a noise! I also think the are a bit dangerous.

Cheers

Anthony Fawcett

HI Richard,


Good to hear from you and sorry to hear you are not coming back to Denmark!! You are always welcome for dinner and discussion! By the way, the kids include you in our sailing family!! Anyway, people seem to have differing opinions on e pilots. I am going to try yet again to get one functioning. Project 2 for the winter of 2009. Kaj has had good luck with an inboard NAVMAN on Ophelia and I am going to give one a try. It will be the backup for the tranAtlantic as I will install a WindPilot. My experience with the E pilots is as the wind picks up you use more amps and the e pilot struggles while the wind vane just gets more powerful.

I am checking off my list of things to do for the trip!! Solar panels, watermaker, wind generator... Anyway, we plan on harbor hopping down to the Canaries during the sunmmer of 2011. I will commute between the boat and work until the 2011 ARC in November when we offically leave.

Best wishes from
Co Captains Isabel and Joshua
Admiral Tanja

An the boat boy....