There was a nice breeze, about 15 knots, outside of the harbor. And the wind-vane worked superb. This boat is better balanced than the old “Fleetwood”. Partly due to better and newer sails. Again, I was able to sail much closer to the wind than the previous version. I am experimenting with a different way to adjust the vane setting for the wind direction. See picture by wrapping a shock cord around the clutch and the tripod instead of having a continuous line from the clutch to the pulpit, because this pulpit is a long distance from the clutch. I have never been very impressed by the system. In a hard wind the clutch would slip and I had to continuously make corrections. The wind last night kept lifting to which the vane immediately responded which is a big advantage over a mechanical auto pilot. There was a strong current and tidal whirlpools which the vane also managed well. So, again another success in the progress towards the conversion for a long cruise off shore.
The growing crescent and end of Ramadan “Eid Mubarak” to my Muslim brothers and sisters.
Beam reaching
well heeled. hard on the wind
the adjustment experiment
