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Thread: windvanes

  1. #1
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    Default windvanes

    Does anyone have a Norvane windvane? They are made in Carlsbad. Any feedback? They are $2000 less than a Monitor new. It's a servo-pendulum type windvane. I'd appreciate any comments. Tom @ Blue Pelican once told me that he deals only in Monitors and their parts because it is such a reputable product. A reputable product is one good reason to buy a Monitor, of course, and the ability to get parts at Blue Pelican another. But still. $2000.

  2. #2
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    I've never seen a Norvane but I'll hijack your thread anyway - muhahahaha!

    With the STR* still in mind, I've thought about a windvane for Ragtime! as a backup to the electric AP's. As much as I like Hans and his Monitors, his is a one-size-fits-all solution and it simply weighs too much for my boat. The J/92 is especially sensitive to excess weight aft.

    I looked at the WindPilot "Pacific Light" Adam had on Blue Moon. It appeared to be well-made and is much lighter than the Monitor. WindPilot's larger "Pacific" model is better suited to my boat (at racing speeds/loads) but weighs as much as the Monitor, so I'm thinking about a "Pacific Light" to be used only as a backup.

    I pretty sure if Hans designed a Monitor for smaller boats (20-25# lighter), he'd have some customers.

    * Solo Tahiti Race
    Last edited by BobJ; 12-23-2012 at 01:55 PM.

  3. #3
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    Here is one review of the norvane. I'll look into the windpilot
    http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...iew-63789.html

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    I apologize in advance for the gratuitous boobs on Peter's site. Maybe they're Tahitian or something.

  5. #5
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    Jackie, I plan to install a Navik on my cal 2-27 this week. I'll let you know how it goes. Navik's are cheap, relatively available, lightweight, and get great reviews.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by ronnie simpson View Post
    Jackie, I plan to install a Navik on my cal 2-27 this week. I'll let you know how it goes. Navik's are cheap, relatively available, lightweight, and get great reviews.
    As of several years ago, the Navik was out of production.

    That said, it's the only vane I've ever used and I love 'em. The only drawback is that it's extremely difficult to take the pendulum oar out of the water when the boat is moving, and essentially impossible to put it back in. Also, when installing/removing the pendulum oar anywhere but the dock, you run a risk of seriously mashed fingers.

    Aside from that, it's a great product...light and durable and powerful.
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

  7. #7
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    Thank you, Alan and Ronnie. I have heard positive things about the Navik, also that parts are hit and miss to find. So, would it be possible to take the pendulum oar out of the water while hove to? Are other windvanes easier to manage? I think I would have to see this process first hand. Maybe some time in the next year?

  8. #8
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    yes, you can remove the pendulum oar when hove to. Turns out that "Mister Vee", a company that manufactures it's own windvane, which incorporates Jan Alkema's "upside down vane' concept into their product, makes a few spare parts for the Navik. The stinker...you have to have a good supply of them....is the little plastic linkages. They're stupid-easy to drop overboard.

    I sometimes see Navik vanes for sale on ebay.

    Ruben Gabriel used a Navik on his SHTP in 2008 with the Pearson Electra. Ed Ruszel used a Navik on his SHTP in his Yankee 30. I used a navik to cross to Hawaii on a Ranger 29 in 1998, and had a Navik on the SC27 in 2008. Navik vanes did a whole lot of the steering on two of the three LongPacs that I've done: INternational H-Boat, Santana 30-30 and Santa Cruz 27. Unfortunately, the vane hit something in the middle of the night, about 5 days out in 2008, which destroyed the pendulum rudder and made the vane useless for the rest of the 2008 SHTP. I wound up using an Autohelm 1000 for nearly the entire trip, until I had to switch to my backup ST2000 a day and a half away from Hanalei.

    I know that the SS Yankee Dolphin, "Big Dot" was steered all the way to Hawaii in 1996 by a Navik vane.

    If you have a small boat, the Navik is a really good vane.
    Last edited by AlanH; 12-23-2012 at 06:03 PM.
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

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    If only I had a navik. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Thanks, Alan.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Philpott View Post
    If only I had a navik. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Thanks, Alan.
    To my mind, the 2-27 is right on the edge. Absolutely a Navik would steer it just fine. On the other hand, they're out of productions and parts are basically impossible to get. A 2-27 doesn't really "need" an ultralight vane.

    A Monitor vane is much heavier, but then, you don't have an ultralight, in that 2-27, eh? The Monitor is produced locally and spare parts are all over the place. Monitor windvanes come up for sale all the time on Craigslist and Latitude 38. A monitor, even a used one, will cost a lot more than a Navik, if you can find one. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

    John Guzzwell used a Hydrovane on "Endangered Species" and really liked it, but it works differently from the Monitor...and the Navik.
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

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