Wharram Wind Vane

These forums are now closed

The forums are closed to new contributions. For informational purposes, all posts will remain available to read here.

7 posts / 0 new
Last post
Anonymous (not verified)
Wharram Wind Vane
HI, I am wanting to build a wind vane for my Tiki 31. I have a copy of Bill Belchers book, also the photo and plan off the Wharram web site. I was going to build the Wharram vane and design a trim tab from Bills book. Any one have experience with any of this? Or thoughts? Regards Steve
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Wharram Wind Vane
Well lots reading, not any comments. I will photograph the progress and let you know how it all goes. (Much like Kim does. Cheers Kim.) It wont cost much money, if it all turns out wrong, just a bit of time. And with a few adjustments should be fine. Stay tuned.
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Wharram Wind Vane
There has been a fair bit of discussion on wind vanes over the last year, some of it initiated by me, so you may find it useful to search back throught the archives. What it seems to boil down to is the weight and quality of the engineering, the latter I believe determinin how well it performs downwind which appears to be the most demanding point of sail for wind vane steering. We can not see where to fit the Wharram one easily on our Tiki 30 and are looking for a commercial one which can be hung off the stern which we can operate remotely. Rory McDougal built a Bill Belcher vane for a Tiki 21, but he mounted it on the side of the boat and shifted it to the windward side when ever he tacked or gybed (there is a thread where he describes this).
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Wharram Wind Vane
I have built and used the vane from the plans drawn by Hanneke. It works beautifully and has sailed me from Durban to New Zealand without a problem. For 20 pounds, it saves a lot of the research and trial and error. I use the vanes for day sailing, never mind long distance sailing, its truly wonderful Dave
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Wharram Wind Vane
Hey Dave, I was hoping you would come along as I remember reading about your experience with the vane a year or so ago. I was going to buy the plans, but they are up to 40 pounds now, and I consider that a bit pricey. Hanneke has a photo and a sketch on there site and I have already made the Vane body and base from that. Can work out a trim tab system from Belchers book. If you could post a couple of photo's of your set up for me, that would be more than appreciated. How's Dragon going. Didn't know you sailed to NZ. How was that? Steve
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Wharram Wind Vane
Hi Steven Sorry the photies will have to wait until I get email at home! I have emigrated to NZ and am slowly moving from homeless and unemployed back into suburbia!! The sail was really good. The T38 is a wonderful boat which while I had Shauna with me, I sailed single handed. Lovely places and even better people. I will write a bit of an analysis of the boat and the trip for the benefit of those still building and perhaps my 5 cents worth on how I sailed Dragon and get coments from other sailors as to what works best. Regards, Dave
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Wharram Wind Vane
No problem Dave. Look forward to hearing about your trip.