The well-managed sailboat by Day George

Author:Day, George
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sailboats -- Equipment and supplies., Sailboats -- Maintenance and repair., World War, 1914-1918
Publisher: Hearst Marine Books
Published: 1992-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Devising a system for uind'tane steering in larger boats has long been a challenge to those ivho sail in vessels over 50 feet. The Saye's Rig above is a simple system that works the main rudder. It is driven by a large vertical-axis vane. Although the device is large, the installation of the Saye's Rig is simple and the principles involved in transferring wind direction to rudder position well tried.

THE SILENT CREW

125

Yet if your boat is too large to accommodate a commercial unit, it is possible to fit a custom vane and to have real success with it. Australian Alan Lucas, who has earned a reputation as an innovative and experienced cruising sailor in Australia and the Pacific, has done some innovative work in the area of vanes for larger boats. His design ideas seek to gain power by increasing the size of the vane, fixing the servo and rudder well aft, where they will have the most effect, and by moving the vane itself from side to side so that it is always in clear air. Several of these have been fitted onto larger cruising boats, and results are moderately good. Each has been designed to fit the boat by the owner, so there is no fixed pattern to go from. Suffice it to say, if you understand the principles of how the vane should work, you should be able to develop a vane for your boat that can steer in most conditions.

One of the most innovative vanes I've ever seen is aboard Bob and Sylvia Wells's 60'foot ketch Sylvia. Bob and Sylvia have been cruising since the late 1960s, and their Sylvia is a Salthouse design. New Zealand-built boat that is both heavy and powerful. At the time she was built (and now), there were no commercial units that could be counted on to steer the boat. Moreover Bob was concerned that a vane unit mounted on the stem was vulnerable to damage from waves, other boats and docks.

His approach, since he was building his boat from the keel up, was to design a self-steering unit that was integral with the hull. His system, which is based on a horizontal-axis vane operating a trim tab on an auxiliary rudder, is unique and very efficient. The auxiliary rudder is hung on a freestanding rudder post just aft of the main rudder. Because the boat has a full-keel, attached-rudder configuration, the auxiliary rudder fits neatly under the counter stern and is well below the water all the time. You can barely see the rudder unless you are right alongside the boat. To reduce strain on the rudder post, the whole rudder assembly can swivel 360 degrees, therefore always being able to feather, no matter what is happening to the boat.

The trim tab is positioned on struts about 18 inches aft of the trailing edge of the rudder, where it will have a maximum torque for a minimum applied force. The narrow vertical trim tab is operated by the horizontal-axis vane on deck, via a sleeve that fits neatly over the main rudder post.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.