Windvane for a Contessa 26 (Page 2 of 2)

My last Contessa came with a standard Hasler vane already installed as it was a boat purchased by a would-be entrant in the OSTAR that decided not the make the race. This incredibly simply vane worked like a charm on the boat. I've had Aries, Monitors and Hydrovanes as well as one other Hasler on various boats and in my opinion on full-length keel boats the vertical vanes are no better, perhaps even worse than the horizontal Hasler type. On a Storfidra that I bought with a Hasler vane already installed I decided to 'upgrade' to a monitor which proved to be a mistake as it was actually to sensitive and the boat was always tending to overcorrect. I reinstalled the Hasler and as far as I know the new owner is still using it. Sometimes, especially on boats with 'traditional' profiles the horizontal vanes work just fine and are much simplier and cheaper. It's easy to start small and cheap and then upgrade if needed to more sophisticated devices. I think Jester and similar boats are mostly still using the Hasler vanes with good success. I see very few small full length keel boats really needing the extra sensitivity of vertical vanes that might be better on fin-keeled cruisers or ultra-lights. Displacement and motion in a seaway has a lot to do with the way any particular vane performs. It's not just about how the the vane reacts to the apparant wind.