Mastering Wind Vane Steering: Lessons from 12 Years of Sailing with Hydrovane

“Oh come on Wayne, what’s wrong with you? Don’t steer so close to the wind or you’ll lose sail pressure!” Pitufa’s genoa starts flapping just at that moment, she loses speed, stalls, then bears off until the sails fill again and we continue our boisterous ride close-hauled in 25 knots of breeze. Only now the wind angle’s at 60 degrees instead of the 45 we have to sail to keep our course. “What the f***, Wayne! Where are you going now?”

Christian and I are sitting in the cockpit, legs braced against the opposite side of the cockpit seats, munching sandwiches while hurling abuse at our helmsman. Wayne ignores our rude comments and hectically leans over to correct the course again. Once we have finished our lunch, I take over the helm, only to find out that the boat’s indeed almost impossible to keep on course—she’s overpowered since the wind has picked up during our lunch. Christian quickly reefs the genoa and eases the main sheet. We engage the wind vane once again and now that the sail configuration is right, Pitufa continues like on rails, Wayne’s little sail only flicks left and right occasionally for slight corrections. We profusely apologize to our helmsman.

Understanding Wind Vane Steering

A hydrovane can steer the boat tirelessly 24/7 without needing breaks, cookies, or talking back when wrongly accused. But it can’t handle conditions a human helmsperson couldn’t manage. Many crews never seem to check and then complain about their wind steering not working properly. If the boat’s out of control because of too much sail pressure, or if there’s simply not enough wind to move the boat, the best wind vane can’t work wonders.

Types of Wind Vanes

There are basically three types of wind vanes: 

Trim Tab Steering: The oldest concept, where a small trim tab is attached directly to the main rudder. A wind vane moves the tab, which swings and pushes the main rudder into the opposite direction—a sound system, but it has the disadvantage that the main rudder needs adjustments and it only works for certain rudder designs.

Servo-Pendulum Vanes: Popular since the 1960s, these consist of a small vane and mini rudder. As the vane tips to one side or the other, the servo blade turns in the water, moving a system of lines affixed to the tiller or wheel of the boat. These gears work well for many cruisers but are prone to failure due to their complicated system of moving parts and potential chafe.

Auxiliary Rudder Vane Systems: Featuring a substantial wind vane that moves an auxiliary rudder, which steers the boat by itself while the main rudder is fixed. These systems are sturdy and reliable, ideal for long passages in remote areas. Additionally, the auxiliary rudder can act as an emergency rudder in case of a catastrophic steering failure offshore.

Why We Chose Hydrovane

We count ourselves lucky that our SY Pitufa came with an auxiliary rudder system. Our Hydrovane has sturdy mounts on the stern of the boat, the rudder and wind vane are stored below deck when not in use. During our very first passage on our newly acquired boat, we mounted them both and then tried to understand the mechanics behind it. We figured out that you have to adjust the wind vane at the same angle into the wind that you would like the boat to go, failed at first as we mistook the back edge for the front, and then stared in awe as the little thing actually started leaning back and forth to steer our big yacht all by itself. We named the Hydrovane Wayne Vaney, and Wayne has steered Pitufa on all longer passages over the past 12 years.

The Advantages and Minor Hiccups

Downwind is not Wayne’s favorite course, and he tends to add some miles to our passages by deviating a few degrees from the set course. In gusty conditions, he needs someone to stay in the cockpit and adjust the weather helm as the boat goes closer to the wind when the wind picks up, which can be tiring during night watches in rough conditions. And of course, a wind vane knows nothing about compass course and rhumb line, but simply follows the wind and will happily steer the boat in a circle when a squall clocks the wind around and the tired night watch doesn’t pay attention.

However, the advantages outweigh such minor hiccups: The simple mechanical system is reliable, has no need for electricity, and does not drain the batteries—a major problem for many boats on passage when the solar panels are often shaded by sails and the wind generator just spins helplessly on downwind courses. Additionally, it would keep on steering even if the batteries failed or if we lost our main rudder (touch wood!). We do have an electric autopilot as well, but we use it mainly when motoring or for short passages when we don’t set up the wind vane. Hydrovanes can be installed off-center or with extra-long wind vanes, so they work for most designs of monohulls and even catamarans.

Birgit and Christian have been watching Wayne Vaney steer their boat from the Med via the Atlantic and on to the Pacific. Check out their blog www.pitufa.at for more info or read their books: “Sailing Towards the Horizon,” “On Velvet Paws Towards the Horizon,” and “Cruising Know-How” available on Amazon.

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