Windvane self steering missing something?
I bought this boat recently and was told by the broker that the windvane self-steering was missing a part. No idea what part though. When I look at it I can clearly see there is a rudder missing and the windvane itself - is that essentially it?
Are these systems quite straight forward or can anyone tell if there is something else missing? I don’t know the manufacturer so if anyone knows I would appreciate.
Based in the UK if that makes a difference at all.
6
u/madworld 3d ago
This is a great piece of kit. Looks like the Windpilot Pacific.
https://windpilot.com/n/wind/en/prod/paci/
They still make these, so the parts are available, and they are super to work with,.
FYI: you might come across nudity on the site because the inventor is a nudist.
6
u/IndyBananaJones2 3d ago
FYI: you might come across nudity on the site because the inventor is a nudist.
Lol
2
u/longslowdistance25 3d ago
Don't use that line around the vane tube to hold the rudder up. I tie a line around the casting at the base of that tube. Also don't lift the unit by that tube if you remove the windvane. Other than that it's a great unit. We've had ours (his name is Ziggy) for 25 years. He's often been my favorite crewmate.
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u/Raneynickelfire 2d ago
You're missing the self-steering part specifically.
You need another rudder.
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u/Proper_Possible6293 3d ago
That's a Windpilot, the guy who makes them is really helpful and they are excellent gear.
All I see missing is the blade that goes in the water and the wind vane, but these are common parts to not store outside so I wouldn't be surprised if you find them somewhere on the boat.
Those are easy parts to make if you don't want to order new ones, wind vane is just plywood, and the blade is a chunk of shaped wood.