[alberg30] Wind vane steering

[A30240 at aol.com]

From: A30240 at aol.com

I had a QME vane on a Cape Dory 25 (almost a 2/3 scale model of the A30).  It 
worked fairly close-hauled, but the further off the wind the worse it got.  I 
would not use one on a real broad reach!  The vane requires that you balance 
the boat, but this is true of any vane.  It is sluggish in that it relies 
totally on wind pressure with no assist from the water.  I used it for a 
couple years and replaced it with an Autohelm 1000.  I personally would not 
recommend the QME.  It's biggest advantage is price, but I don't think it is 
worth the price.  It also lacked the ability to control the boat if the seas 
were large enough to cause a lot of motion.  Remember that it is nothing more 
than a balanced sheet of plywood parallel to the wind and needs a noticeable 
course error to get any win pressure to pull the tiller.  Also there is no 
mechanical advantage to assist.  The more expensive vanes: servo pendulum or 
auxiliary rudder use he water flow as a mechanical amplifier.

Jim Davis
Isa Lei
240

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