Living in a world of power-hungry electronics, windvane self-steering is an appealing concept.

Instead of steering to a compass course, you steer the boat to the wind, thanks to a mechanical vane mounted on the transom.

Once you’ve decided on your heading and adjusted the sails accordingly, the windvane ensures you stay properly trimmed, sail efficiently and avoid the risk of a crash gybe.

When the windvane’s vertical, you’re on course. When it’s deflected, you change course. Simple!

Windvane self-steering, or ‘vane gear’, first appeared on model yachts in the 1930s but it wasn’t until the 1950s that development began for racing yachts, most notably pioneered by Blondie Hasler, and culminating in his Pendulum Servo system in 1961.

For the first time, yachts with counter sterns could be steered effectively without needing complex modifications to the rudder.

Sir Francis Chichester and Sir Alec Rose both completed record-breaking voyages with Hasler vane gears, and sailors continue to use their derivatives today, especially in solo races celebrated for self-sufficiency.

In last year’s Jester Challenge, PBO’s Jake Kavanagh spotted many popular designs of windvane self-steering, ranging from the top-end Hydrovane to the budget-priced Hebridean.

Other well-known makes included Sea Feather and Monitor, plus a couple of examples of DIY ingenuity.

Similarly, contenders in the 2018 Golden Globe Race – a solo race around the world without modern electronics – opted for Monitor, Beaufort, Hydrovane, Aries and Windpilot systems, and in 2022 this was reduced to the latter three.

Requiring no electricity, windvane self-steering is built to withstand all conditions.

For some sailors, it’s considered an auxiliary steering system, or an ‘extra crewmember’ for long passages with consistent winds.

For others, however, it’s their primary choice of steerage, and there are many good reasons why.

While all windvanes steer to a wind-based course, the way in which they do so varies, and it’s worth giving careful consideration to which product suits your budget and style of cruising.

How does windvane self-steering work?

There are two main types of windvane self-steering systems: direct drives, which have their own rudder; and servo-pendulums, which use the vessel’s rudder.

In both cases, when presented to the wind the vane tips over, transferring this action to either the rudder or pendulum blade which steers the boat back to your desired angle of sail.

If the wind changes and you want to maintain your bearing you adjust the windvane angle until you’re pointing where you want to go and trim the sails.

Course adjustments are made by pulling a continuous line in the cockpit that can rotate the vane 360°.

If the wind backs suddenly, however, you still have the option of jumping back on the wheel or tiller, trimming the sails and then adjusting the vane to the new heading.

Windvane self-steering offer different shaft length options and some also have different rudder blade sizes.

Most can be adjusted for the conditions. In light airs, for example, the vane can be exposed as much as possible to the wind, whereas in heavier weather, it can be lowered to reduce the force exerted on it.

Most servo-pendulum systems have different-sized vanes that can be swapped, and some vanes – such as South Atlantic, Windpilot and Aries – can be raked aft.

You can change the position of the counterweight to make the vane more or less sensitive to the wind.

Hydrovane has three vane sizes, specified for each installation depending on the presence of other aerial obstructions.

The vane’s inclination can be set anywhere from 0° to 30° for varied responsiveness.

Servo-pendulum windvane self-steering

With servo-pendulum systems, the windvane connects to a blade, which hangs like a ‘pendulum’ under the water.

The word ‘servo’, originating from the Latin servus, meaning ‘slave’, refers to a control system that converts a small mechanical motion (in this case, the blade’s movement) into one requiring much greater power (turning the rudder).

In order to do this, it uses the force created by the boat’s speed through the water, or ‘hydro-mechanical’ energy.

The faster the boat, the higher the steering force.

So when the boat strays off course, the wind pushes the wind vane to one side or the other.

Using a linkage system, this rotates the pendulum blade which, amplified by the flow of water swings to the surface, and pulls the tiller control lines attached to the pendulum, bringing the boat back on course.

Often the pendulum blade can be lifted out of the water when not in use and the height of the vane and length of the shaft can be customised to your boat.

Some models, such as South Atlantic’s L 360, weigh as little as 7kg and start at around £950 (ex taxes) for a 16ft yacht, while others can accommodate boats up to 60ft or 30 tonnes.

A disadvantage of a servo-pendulum system is that steering lines can clutter the cockpit.

However, CapHorn has tackled this by locating the control arm inside the lazarette, allowing the lines to lead internally through blocks fastened to the boat’s steering quadrant, with jamming cleats in the cockpit.

Another thing to bear in mind is that a servo-pendulum windvane uses the yacht’s rudder, meaning you don’t have a spare in an emergency.

However, some designs can be adapted.

The Monitor, for example, can be converted to an emergency rudder by locking the pendulum and sliding a foil over the paddle.

While the option to retrofit a backup rudder might be appealing, if this is a primary consideration bear in mind the time required to do this versus having one ‘ready-to-go’, as is the case with a direct drive wind vane.

Plus, a smaller backup system may not be able to cope sufficiently with heavy weather.

Although some older servo-pendulum brands are now discontinued, there are many of them still in use, and you may find these can be refurbished or upgraded.

Direct drive windvane self-steering

A direct drive or ‘auxiliary rudder’ wind vane uses its own rudder.

This type of vane gear tends to be more expensive but is an independent, second steering system, and thus the loads it needs to deal with are far greater.

When you ‘lock-off’ your main rudder, the auxiliary rudder takes over the steering.

Note, the main rudder needn’t be locked off at the boat’s centreline; its position will depend on the conditions and how the boat is balanced.

Once fixed, the main rudder simply acts as a giant trim tab, helping to maintain the correct lift fore and aft, and reducing weather helm or ‘rounding up’.

A direct drive unit is heavier than a servo-pendulum, so direct drive units can only be used on boats around 20ft or more.

For boats with hydraulic steering systems and centre cockpits, direct drive is the simplest option.

Servo-pendulum is possible but requires a hydraulic bypass or very long connecting lines to the wheel.

As with a servo-pendulum, when the boat veers off course, the wind hits the vane, swinging it one way or the other.

This sideways movement is converted into a rotating motion, steering the attached rudder (not the yacht’s rudder), which is installed at the transom.

The huge advantage of a direct drive windvane is you have a powerful emergency steering system.

As no lines are required leading back to the helm, there’s less friction and it doesn’t clutter the cockpit.

Additionally, some direct drive windvanes incorporate a servo blade connected to the system’s own rudder while other designs have a trim tab fitted.

Both help generate additional power. In heavy weather, windvanes are more robust than electronic steering systems, but if there’s no wind they don’t work.

For this reason, many cruisers carry both.

Most direct drive wind vanes allow you to attach the auxiliary rudder to the electronic tiller pilot when under engine, so you needn’t use the yacht’s rudder.

Where to mount windvane self-steering

For boats with boarding ladders and drop-down transoms, an offset windvane is an obvious advantage.

But does it affect performance when heeled on the opposite tack?

Paul EImers of South Atlantic comments that: “No windvane can be installed off-centre without losing performance. There is a limit of about 30cm for this off-centre installation… When the windvane is installed to port the rudder is well submerged when heeled to port, but almost out of the water when heeled to starboard, becoming useless.”

But CapHorn inventor Yves Gélinas told PBO he was the first to offset a servo-pendulum on the Nicholson 31 Chance Encounter in 1991 and discovered that performance was in no way affected.

“Since then, a great number of CapHorn gears have been offset to the total satisfaction of the owner,” he said.

Hydrovane maintains that an off-centre installation isn’t a disadvantage, citing tests at Southampton University which concluded: ‘The Hydrovane is absolutely indifferent as to its location – as long as it has “clean water” to work with, the rudder can produce its certain amount of steering power wherever it is located.’

It’s true, yachts today carry more top hamper than ever, but that needn’t be an obstacle to fitting windvane self-steering gear.

Monitor has just launched its TopHat servo-pendulum model, which allows the air vane to be installed separately from the rest of the assembly (joined by a low-friction cable), so it can access clean air.

This means davits, solar panels, radar arches or mizzen booms no longer get in the way of installation.

CapHorn’s range of wind vanes are designed to fit any stern shape, and includes a model for boats with an outboard rudder for mounting on a boomkin or on a scoop stern.

Hydrovane is a popular direct drive model, with many units mounted on multihulls and most off-centre.

It has a large vane, and incorporates a four-position ‘ratio knob’ for adjusting sensitivity and power to the conditions.

Turn it far right, and the vane will disengage entirely; this is your emergency steering option, allowing your tiller to control the rudder.

The other three options change rudder deflection from 15° (1:3 power for light airs) to 35° (1:1 power for storm conditions).

In heavy weather, as well as increasing rudder deflection (which makes for a much straighter wake and tempers over-steering), you can reduce the angle and responsiveness of the vane.

While in the normal setting, this is vertical (providing the most power and most sensitivity).

The vane can be inclined up to 30° for strong winds. In light winds, the Hydrovane’s lack of friction allows it to continue steering in only a few knots of wind.

The highest spec model, the XT Vane, can be extended for more power in lighter winds.

Golden Globe Race

Once installed and bedded in, windvanes require very little maintenance, but that doesn’t mean you can ignore them altogether, warns the founder of the Golden Globe Race, Don McIntyre.

McIntyre recalls a 16-hour stint of hand-steering in the Bass Strait after a bolt holding his Navik wooden quadrant slipped out, rendering it inoperable in the middle of the night. In 4m seas, he was unable to leave the helm to change hanked sails for fear of rounding up.

“I was over-canvassed and on the edge until we made anchorage. It taught me a few important lessons I never forgot. I now ‘spanner check’ things before and during a major passage.”

He later became a distributor for Aries windvane self-steering and in the past 45 years has sailed with a range of self-steering gear.

“None are perfect, but some are far superior to others. Some are more suited to certain situations and types of boats for various reasons of size, power, design and the voyage itself.”

In the 2018 Golden Globe, the Southern Ocean tested self-steering gear to its limits, with skippers forced to hand steer or heave-to in bad weather to effect repairs.

As a result of this, the race now insists that windvanes are vetted and approved.

Some brands have even made modifications to fit the strict criteria. In the 2022 edition of the race 12 out of 16 competitors had Hydrovanes, and the remaining four had Aries and Windpilot models.

Only three had issues, and of these two came down to a lack of onboard observation and maintenance, with bolts coming loose.

“It happens to all machinery that moves constantly, just like my Navik,” says McIntyre. “This is an operator issue.”

And for those who claim windvanes don’t work, Windpilot designer Peter Förthmann says in his blog on windpilot.com: “Windvane self-steering systems are master teachers; there’s no such thing as ‘it doesn’t work!’ It all ultimately comes down to sailing in balance: if big rudder movements are what it takes to stay on course, there’s likely too much canvas aloft and the race is soon lost.”

Riemer Witteveen of Aries also comments: “All these systems work on the apparent wind. Modern yachts that can accelerate much faster than older displacement yachts don’t cope with these systems that well. “If they surf down a wave, their speed increases a lot, and therewith the apparent wind, thus engaging the system to steer against that current course. Wind vane systems are better suited on a more traditional displacement cruiser than on a cruiser-racer.”

Servo-Pendulum vs Direct Drive

Servo-Pendulum (uses boat’s rudder)

• Cheaper
• Lines in cockpit
• No backup steering
• Harder in low wind and boat speed
• More complicated for centre cockpits and hydraulic steering systems
• Doesn’t have the advantage of an additional rudder for stability
• Most systems must be installed on the centreline
• Fixed axis (usually 20°)

Direct Drive (uses own rudder)

• More expensive
• Clutter-free cockpit
• Separate emergency steering
• Powerful in light airs
• Can be used on any boat and is generally too heavy for boats less than 20ft long
• Ship’s rudder can be used as giant trim tab to reduce yawning and weather helm
• Can be fixed off-centre
• Some can change axis and rudder deflection according to weather

Hydraulic steering

Hydraulic steering systems transmit force from the wheel to the rudder indirectly via pumps, hoses and hydraulic cylinders.

Windpilot inventor, Peter Förthmann, points out that such systems don’t lend themselves readily to a mechanical wind vane self-steering system.

Hydraulic steering requires more turns of the wheel, and can suffer from ‘drift’, causing the amidships wheel position to change over time

Angle importance

“This creates a problem for servo-pendulum systems as they rely on the relationship between wheel position and rudder angle being permanently fixed,” says Peter.

“No matter how small the loss of hydraulic pressure, the eventual inevitable result is a boat unable to resist weather helm.”

He points out that this can also be a challenge for electric autopilots because the creeping loss of hydraulic pressure inside the ram inevitably drives up power consumption.

So before considering a wind vane, Peter advises those with hydraulic steering to check for drift.

Turn the wheel hard against each of the end stops and hold it there. If the system can’t maintain position or pressure, you need to overhaul the hydraulic cylinder – a job for a professional.

Once this is fixed, there are options such as the Hydrovane direct drive model or Windpilot Pacific Plus, a servo-assisted double rudder system.

Balanced trimming

“Both systems require that the main rudder be adjusted precisely to start with to keep the boat properly trimmed so that the windvane self-steering system only has to look after course corrections,” he says.

If there is an emergency tiller available, the lines that transmit the force from the vane gear can be attached to this tiller instead.

A bypass valve on the hydraulic cylinder is absolutely essential so that the emergency tiller only has to move the rudder and not the whole of the hydraulic steering system.

With CapHorn’s Jean-du-Sud and Spray windvane models, the lines can be returned from the inside to pulleys fixed on an auxiliary bar (which can be the same as that of the hydraulic system) and from there to jam cleats in the cockpit.

However, a bypass valve must be installed when CapHorn is in use.

Case Study: Windpilot on the Golden Globe Race

Naval aviator and yachtsman Abhilash Tomy has taken part in two Golden Globe Races (GGRs), coming second in the 2022 edition

“The decision to use Windpilot for GGR 2018 was taken thanks to the recommendation of Johan Vels, who was consulting on building my boat Thuriya, a Suhaili replica. Thuriya was a ketch, which made her a well-balanced boat, easing the load on the Windpilot, which performed admirably well. During a knockdown that dismasted the boat, the Windpilot remained unaffected.

“Due to its performance in GGR 2018, I preferred the Windpilot for GGR 2022. The Rustler 36 Bayanat (pictured above) was a sloop, so slightly more difficult to balance than the ketch, and since I was pushing the boat faster, the Windpilot must have experienced more strain.

“The plywood sensor on top broke during gybes. I ran through four spares by the middle of the race and had to resort to scavenging wood from the cockpit lining and even Plexiglass from the chart table to make a spare (not a difficult task).

“The connecting link was bent and probably about to break in the fifth month (when I was rounding Cape Horn). It was an easy fix, and I had three spares anyway. No further problems

“Paddles broke, and I ran through the supply of three paddles towards the end of the Pacific. I replaced it with plywood from the toilet door (did not work), and then plywood from bunk hatches (did not work), before scavenging metal parts from the anchor (worked for about 8,000 miles).

“Overall, I was extremely happy with the Windpilot. It is very rugged and will work flawlessly for months before requiring any maintenance, and parts can be easily fashioned from what you have on board.”

Case Study: DIY Hebridean

John Fleming designed the Hebridean specifically for DIY construction, keeping parts simple for remote maintenance. Innovative features include his single unit vane-pendulum assembly, bypassing the need for a gear to link them

. The traditional separated arrangement is replaced with a simplified structure which swivels in its entirety around a single attachment point.

The simplified design geometry cleverly incorporates a horizontal vane axle (not offset, but feathered as the unit swings) for optimum response and sensitivity.

Former PBO editor Dave Pugh tested the Hebridean wind vane built by readers Jeff Glass and Jerry Harrison using American oak from a local supplier.

When Dave joined them in Lowestoft on a Jaguar 25, he reported, “I’m impressed. Our test was only short, but the Hebridean seems to offer a powerful, reliable self-steering system at a fraction of the cost of an off-the-peg model. If you value peace, maintainability and battery charge, this is worth a look.

Case Study: South Atlantic on the Globe 5.80

The Globe 5.80 is a solo transatlantic race in 19ft (5.8m) home-built plywood yachts.

Race founder Don McIntyre chose South Atlantic’s compact and lightweight S 301 servo-pendulum design to sponsor this biennial race.

“I considered all available self-steering units on the market. I wanted fast reaction times, absolutely bulletproof construction, total reliability, not excessively heavy and importantly value for money,” he said.

“The objective was to select a system that will do at least two Transats, an AZAB and then the 2025 Mini Globe Race. The standout unit was the South Atlantic S 301, so I ordered one in time to be ready for the launch of my own 5.80 TREKKA.

Case Study: Hydrovane on the ARC

The Hydrovane is ubiquitous in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), which sees entrants sailing 2,700 miles from Gran Canaria to the Caribbean.

Many of the models are mounted on multihulls and most off-centre.

Of course, any wind vane’s ability to steer diminishes with the weight and size of the boat, but Hydrovane claims to have successfully installed models on yachts over 50ft and 27 tonnes.

Dinghy davits, arches, gantries, radar masts are also not a problem.

“We love installation challenges … try us!” says the manufacturer.

Last year, PBO met Maltese sailor Juan Manduca, who was sailing around the world on his Dufour 530 B emZ.

He described the Hydrovane as a fantastic piece of kit. “It provides two backups,” he said, “a mechanical back-up for the autopilot as it uses no electricity, and a full backup for the rudder.”

Neil Smith took part in ARC+ 23 on his Moody 54. “We started with the Hydrovane but it wouldn’t keep us on course. It meandered 20° to 30° off the rhumbline and when you’re goosewinging you need to be more precise than that. We switched to the Raymarine SD60000 autopilot and it was brilliant.”

Hydrovane comments: “We never heard from this customer post-purchase, otherwise we would have provided some tips. The Hydrovane should be highly trustworthy while goosewinging, though heavier displacement boats require extra attention to sail trim and balance.”

Windvane self-steering directory

Aries (based in Holland). Price: £6,040-£6,427. Type: Pendulum. Features/Notes: Can refurbish old models. Click-to-adjust system: one click is 6°. Safe operation from cockpit or cabin. Website: ariesvanegear.com

CapHorn (based in Canada). Price: £3,678-£4,300. Type: Pendulum. Features/Notes: Quadrant and lines located in lazarette to avoid deck clutter. Needs only 10cm aft clearance. Guaranteed for 28,000 miles. Outboard rudder option available. Website: caphorn.com

Hebridean (based in UK). Price: £594. Type: DIY Pendulum. Features/Notes: Excludes wood for frame & pendulum. Additional kits for remote course adjustment and wheel steering. Suits transom freeboard of 60-100cm. Website: windvaneselfsteering.co.uk

Monitor (based in US). Price: £3,692-£4,622 (ex taxes) Type: Pendulum. Features/Notes: Can be converted to an emergency rudder. New TopHat version separates vane from paddle. Website: scanmarinternational.com

South Atlantic (based in Argentina). Price: £908-£1,790 for Pendulum (ex taxes) £2,793-£3,834 (ex taxes) for Direct Drive. Type: Pendulum and Direct Drive. Features/Notes: Sponsor of the Globe 5.80 Class. 3 x aluminium, 2 x stainless steel in 4 sizes, 8kg – 60kg (Pendulum) 2 x models in 5 x sizes. Off-centre mounting possible. Suits yachts from 16ft to 60ft/30 tonnes. (Direct Drive). Website: south-atlantic.com.ar

Neptune (based in UK). Price: £1,999-£2,977. Type: Pendulum. Features/Notes: Four models for yachts 23ft to 50ft. Website: windvane.co.uk

Windpilot (based in Germany). Price: £2,185-£6,640 (ex taxes). Type: Pendulum. Features/Notes: Used in Golden Globe Race. Four models available. Hydraulic steering option. Website: windpilot.com

Hydrovane (based in UK and Canada). Price: £5,000-£7,000. Type: Direct Drive. Features/Notes: Used in Golden Globe. Trade-in available. Hydraulic steering option. Adjustable vane and rudder deflection. Website: hydrovane.com

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