Windvane Or Autopilot?—Part I

by Colin December 8, 2011
Windpilot in control

Sitting in the Canaries watching all the yachts turn up to make the transatlantic crossing has been instructive in one sense. I’ve spent some of my time counting the number of boats equipped with what used to be the long distance boat’s badge of honour—a wind vane. And talking to the owners has been instructive, [...]

Windvane Or Autopilot?—Part 2

by Colin December 19, 2011
Blade angle

The first time I used a windvane in anger was back in the early 1980s, aboard my newly purchased UFO 34 cruiser-racer whilst delivering her home from Scotland through the Irish Sea. Fitted with a then state-of-the-art Aries vane, we had strong tailwinds for much of the way, which the vane handled fairly well, impressive [...]

Gear Test, Autopilot

by John April 27, 2012
JHHG3-1000189.jpg

A reliable autopilot comes right after radar on our priority scale. A short handed crew that steers all the time, or even much of the time, is a tired crew, and a tired crew is a dangerous crew.