DIY Wind Vane to Save BIG $$$

[@SailingOTR]

Parts List and General Guidelines Materials can be anything that is suitable depending on what is available in your area. Rod: Any noncorrosive round bar of suitable length. 1/4"~1/2" diameter. Wind Vane Blade: Any material of suitable stiffness and light weight. I used "Door Skin" plywood 1/8" thick, made with three plys. Seal and finish to suit. Straps: Flat strap material to hold blade to rod without slipping. Cross Bar: This is used to transmit the rotation of the blade to the controlled surface. Can be any suitable material, wood or plastic. Length about 8" X Width 1 1/2" X 3/4" Thick. Control Lines: 3/16 ~ 1/4" line. Dacron or nylon. Course Setting Pipe and Support Bracket Pipe: Two different sizes of pipe of sufficient diameter for stiffness and general strength. I used 1 1/2" & 2" Schd 40 PVc pipe. Plus any necessary pipe fittings, i.e. Pipe Tees, etc. Hardware: One double or two single small blocks with mounting hardware to direct the control lines to the controlled surface. Various S.S. fasteners as needed to hold things together. General Guidelines The size of the auxiliary rudder should equal 40% ~ 60% of the main rudder. The trim tab used to turn the auxiliary rudder should be about 15% of the area of the auxiliary rudder if it is attached directly to the trailing edge of the auxiliary rudder. BUT it is much better to separate the trim tab from the auxiliary or main rudder. The trim tab can then have less surface area in relationship to the auxiliary rudder. The leading edge of my trim tab is 3" aft of the trailing edge of the auxiliary rudder. It has an area of about 8% of the auxiliary rudder. If you have a transom hung or outboard rudder this makes the whole build of the self steering system much easier as the trim tab can be attached to the main rudder. Follow this link to see one way to build your own auxiliary rudder: kzbin.info/aero/PL4t_mZ0sdyMURDtVRZTXA9CjULoUFo0OE A great guide book for designing your own system: John Letcher's: Self-steering for sailing craft annas-archive.org/md5/06f736aeabdbfdfcc9de335c2fda09fb

[@redwood1957]

Thank you. I would love to see a few sketched drawings to work off of. I followed the series I forgot to give all a thumbs up. I would also like to see a one line drawing on a map of your travels. Thank you. Be safe

[@SailingOTR]

Thanks for watching. I have not made any drawings of the windvane. The idea, concept and design are all in my head. That is what I usually do when making something. I thought the pictures were self eplainitory. As for my travels I can only say watch my videos. Although they are not all inclusive. I used to have a website featuring my different boats and my travels. But the hosting service got too greedy and I dropped the website. I have considered making new videos for YT from old videos and pictures. All of my early travels were before digital video cameras were available and as common as they are today. That may be sometime in the making as I have numerous other projects in the works right now.

[@redwood1957]

@@SailingOTR us it's all visual I can see it. Being a retired electrician I just like drawings. In the worst case it was a bar napkin. Thank you

[@SailingOTR]

@@redwood1957 Ever install any caps in outlets to keep the electricity from leaking out?😁

[@brighambaker3381]

Thank you! Glad to see this content!

[@SailingOTR]

Thanks for watching

[@RichardUS8]

Your design and its function is interesting ...choosing which household plastic to slap it together with less so- using strong Marine compatible materials put together with some elegance, and it becomes very interesting again.

[@SailingOTR]

And I say why waste the money? The materials I used have already stood the test of time and distance after 10+ years and 30,000 miles. BTW and FYI Schd 40 PVC pipe and fittings are used in all manner of building and construction and it is very strong. Cut a two foot long piece of 2" Schd 40 PVC pipe. Support it at both ends then stand on it in the middle of the pipe...See what happens.

[@johnjordansailing]

Do you suspect it would be ineffective trying to put a windvane on a 19' trailer sailer sailboat such as the West Wight Potter 19? Appreciate your candor. Thank you!

[@SailingOTR]

Great question. I think it's a good idea. Smaller lighter boats will teach you a great deal about your boat and your self-steering system.

[@johnjordansailing]

Please would you describe the windvane blade shaft bearing? Thank you.

[@SailingOTR]

Thanks for watching and commenting. There is no "bearing" in the sense that you mean. The blade shaft fits through a 1/2" hole drilled through the 1 1/2" PVC pipe. The PVC pipe is the bearing surface. That is why you need a non-corrosive shaft. The PVC pipe is quite "slippery" and the wind vane blade swings quite easily.

[@johnjordansailing]

I'm a bit confused by this latest design. When the boat is on a beam reach, it would appear that the axis of the windvane blade shaft will not be inclined (20 degrees) from the horizontal? Or what am I missing here?

[@SailingOTR]

Thanks for watching and commenting. That is true. As the blade is turned towards the "close hauled" position the amount of inclination decreases. The purpose of inclining the axis is to provide a small amount of negative feedback in the system. I do not know exactly how much this amount of negative feed back affects course stability. It would take two boats exactly the same, sailing side by side, to see how much difference the negative feedback makes. I do know that many horizontal blade wind vanes without an inclined axis work just fine. And I suspect that for many small boats course stability is not going to be all that good anyway.

[@bizim_eller]

👍👍🙂

[@SailingOTR]

Thanks for watching

[@nicholaspablocmith3165]

Hello for the Algorithm

[@SailingOTR]

Thanks

[@rbarker4426]

Thanks for a whole lot of nothing I could do better with mustache shavings.

[@SailingOTR]

Make the video and let us all see it.