Windvane for Tiki 21

Home Forum Design Specific Boards Tiki and Coastal Trek Designs Windvane for Tiki 21

These forums are now closed

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

4 posts / 0 new
Last post
Anonymous (not verified)
Windvane for Tiki 21
Hey all, just wondering what types of vanes people have used on Tiki 21's. It seems from pictures that the Wharram designed vane is simple and cheapish to build. any discussion or stories about passages would be much appreciated- also if anyone has a vane they are looking to unload let me know. thanx a bunch Casey
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Windvane for Tiki 21
Hi Casey, I built a Bill Belcher OGM windvane for Cookie and called it "Harry" - the fearless helmsman!!!! He was the one who sailed Cookie round the world - not me! Cost is very cheap - just some 3/16" plywood, some offcuts of other wood and away you go!! Bill Belchers' book is out of print but here is a link to find copies - http://www.alibris.com/search/books/qwork/7238799/used/Wind-Vane%20Self-... The book has some simple plans to follow. At first I built exact to plans to sail out to NZ. After that I cut down the 4ft vane to 3ft and made a different cantilever arm to be able to slide the weights easily. Harry steered Cookie effectively to speeds of around 7kts boatspeed. Higher than that and the apparent wind goes all over the place and the vane cant handle it. My best days run with Harry steering was 175miles. The mounting is an issue. I did not have an aft beam, so made two wedge type sockets on each cabin side. I did have to tack Harry from side to side. No big deal, I got the process down to under 5 mins in the end. The thing with a non-pendulum windvane is that you have to spend a lot of time to perfect your sail balance, boat load trim and the weather helm on the tiller strings. If you enjoy tinkering under sail like me, then it wont be an issue. [attachment=0]Aden.JPG[/attachment] Cheers Rory
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Windvane for Tiki 21
Been researching this myself and found a useful listing at http://onpassage.com/Steering_Systems/Windvane_Self_Steering/Windvane_Se... There is an interesting cheap and cheerful one called Mr Vane, but you have to be able to reach it to set the course. Most if not all of the others look to large and heavy for a Tiki 30 or smaller. We are having difficulty working out what to do, Rory's compromise is looking pretty good! Robert
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: Windvane for Tiki 21
Hey guys, thanx for the input. I checked out Mr. Vane and I am going to give it a whirl. It looks sensitive and a good long term solution. very light. I'll add a aluminum crossbeam aft and hook it all up and see what happens. thanx again Casey