WIND SYSTEM CHOICE

[mastreb]

For my Maretron I got a lever-release antenna mount and a 4' stainless antenna pole. I keep the pole down with the maretron pointing at the ground between the outboard and the port rudder but with the lever locked away from the hull when I'm on trailer. Flip the lever and raise the pole to vertical and the sensor is about 10' feet up from the deck.

Works just fine and it's a piece of cake. Just remember to drop the antenna pole before you drop the mast so it's not in the way.

Be aware that Shakespeare PVC antenna pole male connectors have too small of an inside diameter for an NMEA2000 plug so you need to go with stainless. Also note that if you're going to drop to aft, 4' is the max. I like aft because it hangs straight down and doesn't touch anything. You could drop forward into the cockpit up to about 6' for a total of 12' off the deck, but then your sensor is going to be banging off the forward cockpit seat.

Matt

[baldbaby2000]

The mast seems to rotate variably according to point of sailing. I would have thought they could be slaved to a fluxgate as a heading reference.Perhaps the high stern mount is the simplest way to go given the complications...

Sure seems like the stern mount would be inaccurate. The fluxgate solution is used but I can't imagine it being more accurate than a potentiometer and it would be subject like any compass to interference; however, I haven't tried anything but the potentiometer so I'm only guessing.

Dan

[Crikey]

I've got to fabricate some stern mastage/support for the wifi and gps anyway so will probably start off my wind indicator in this location as well. I'll give a report later on the mast tunneling effort. My gut tells me a rod's going to twist too much to be accurate and I've got to do more research on gear that is compatable with potentiometer input.

Ross

[mastreb]

So my Maretron WSO100 failed about a week ago after 18 months in use. I'm not sure why--the unit appears clean and not wet or anything. It just doesn't appear on the NMEA2K bus.

It is inaccurate on the stern whenever the mainsail spills air into it, which is most of the time on a beam reach unless I specifically move the main to get a more accurate reading of the wind. So I'm taking the opportunity of this warranty return to move it to the bow pulpit. I've decided against a mast mount because I have a rotating mast and because I've made the decision not to complicate the mast trailering with a lot of wires.

I've mounted a 4' Shakespeare antenna pole with rail clamp on the Starboard forward bow pulpit such that when lowered, the pole goes back along the pulpit rail and the WSO100 will lay just outside my white vinyl coated lifelines. That should be perfect when lowered for trailering. I use a 12" stainless extender atop the antenna pole because the NMEA2K plug doesn't fit inside the Shakespeare pole. I'll post pictures of all this when I get it reinstalled.

Question for those who know:

What's the easiest way to take a cable from the bow pulpit inside the skin of the ship without affecting watertight integrity? On the stern I just went in through the cableway on the transom, which was a piece of cake. I'm really hesitant to start drilling through the deck and liner however. I've thought about pulling out the bow nav light cable, which goes through the pulpit rails, and using it to pull in a cable pulling string, then re-pulling both the nav light power and the NMEA cable back through with the string. It doesn't look like the opening would be big enough for that, however.

[baldbaby2000]

I put a horn on the bow pulpit and couldn't figure out an easy way to get the wires through. I eventually used the existing wire for the bow light with some diodes and a relay so it could provide power to both the horn and the light, but that doesn't help with your installation. I wish MacGreggor would have made things easier.

I can't imagine getting an accurate reading 4' above the bow pulpit because it's so close to the headsail. Just my opinion.

[March]

Tacktick 030. After 6 weeks in the Bahamas, I was very pleased with the system. I had acquired a second display on ebay that was tuned on the same frequency with the one at the helm. The advantages of the system are obvious: no wires to run through the mast. Self-powered (photocell bank). We set the vane at the top of the mast, calibrated the system on water. one display at the helm, the other one below deck. The two displays always agreed on windspeed and wind direction. we cycled them, so that they could both get charged in the daytime. A relatively expensive toy, but well worth it.
I wonder how long the rechargeabla batteries will last, but I saw that tacktick sells a set of new batteries for $70, if need be

[baldbaby2000]

Will the Tacktick system display properly with the rotaing mast on the 26M? I might still consider it regarless. The mast rotates about the same each time so the error would be consistant. I've always thought if someone came out with a wind instrument display with two scales on it--one for starboard tack and one for port--that would simplify the rotating mast problem.

[March]

Like I said in my earlier post, the tacktick has a function that compensates for relative wind/real wind. I never used it. This might be it, but I never looked into it, since my mast is fixed.

[Crikey]

But neither (I think) has the capability of dialing out the variable amount of mast rotation that the 'M' offers up. You must have one of those other reporting systems in place for this to work properly.
NMEA2000 makes it all 'come together'

[mastreb]

I've got my replacement Maretron WSO100 and will be running it on a bow jackstaff next time I sail. It'll be six feet up, and about three feet forward of the staysail. Looking at dynamic flow plots for wind, this should be well forward of the leading edge turbulence.

It's not going to work downwind at all, but I don't need to know the winds when running. In any case, I'll post how well it works when I've got information.

If it doesn't work on the bow, I'm going to put a simple tube at the top forward mast, with the wind instrument freely rotating inside it, supported by a ball bearing and held inside the tube with a 12" stainless threaded pipe. I'll then have a tang going forward from the instrument about six inches, and I'll attach a custom made cable to that tang and the bow pulpit. The cable is going to be both an additional SS stay with shackles at both ends to hold the instrument forward, along with a standard NMEA 2000 cable wrapped around it and secured at both ends of the stay with a tywrap (the way a power line is often wrapped around a wire guideline). With the stay wire shackled to the tank and the bow pulpit, the instrument will remain directly forward irrespective of how the mast rotates. The Nmea cable will have loose ends, one of which goes to the instrument and the other will go down to the bow where I'll have a water-proof through-deck NMEA fitting to plug it into.

I'll simply unplug the cable on the bow and unshackle the stay when lowering the mast, and when the mast is down, I'll remove the entire instrument and cable from the masthead pipe and put it in the cabin for storage.

[ualpow]

As far as mounting on top of the mast goes. I don't have a wind indicator yet but did put tell tales on my shrouds as high as I could reach. I do notice that the boats with indicators on top of the mast are never pointing the same as my "low" shroud mounted ones. Could that be the friction of the ground/water? Which wind indication is really more important? Seems to me that a wind reading lower be more beneficial because up top you are only using a small portion of the sail.

[Catigale]

Exactly. Wind at top, middle and bottom sail is all different, especially in light air.

The ice scream scoops look nautical but aren't a substitute for visual trim...

[seahouse]

Yes, ualpow, you got it, both wind direction and speed vary with height, caused by friction with the surface. The difference in direction is usually under around 10 degrees (= your sail twist), but, under some situations and conditions (like at lower wind speeds, like Catigale suggests) the windspeed can nearly double from bottom to mast top!

Sail twist helps to accommodate this, but turbulence at higher wind speeds makes it less significant.

Tell-tales installed at various heights that are all parallel help show that (among other things) your sail twist is set correctly to compensate, even though they are each located at different angles of attack along the sail.

Lengths of old cassette (or video) tape tied (looped) to your stays at various heights are an easy way to help you visualize the wind while sailing.

- Brian.

[1st Sail]

Who says money can't buy happiness!
http://www.amazon.com/Tacktick-Wireless ... B003NZWFTI
this doubles the cost of the system, but looks like it gets the job done. I've been drouling over tack tick 033 and mast rotation sensor for a long time.

[delevi]

Tacktic has a transducer add-on for a rotating mast, but be prepared to shell out some dough. The only other thing that works for the is a backstay with masthead rotator which would stay straight while the mast rotates below it. This leads to other problems from actually using the backstay when the mast rotates. I did it. I wouldn't recommend it. Also, I would stay away from the Rotovecta transducers. There is a reason Raymarine states that they are for motor boat use.

On edit:
I haven't actually used Tactic but if you read the reviews, you will find more bad ones than good ones. The folks at my local boat yard don't like them either.

Leon