Way back in 2008, we purchased a Sailomat self-steering wind vane. Our Autohelm autopilot, aka "Otto," has always worked very well, but like all autopilots it uses a lot of battery power so was not the best choice for all conditions, especially for long passages. We also wanted some kind of a backup device in the event our beloved Otto ever failed irreversibly. After much research we chose the Sailomat, designed by engineer and company owner Stellan Knöös. A Swedish wind vane for a Swedish boat. It was a natural choice.
Our installation went in fits and starts, complicated by the lack of any consistent wind and agreeable seas in the Sea of Cortez to test it. It was frustrating – we just couldn't seem to get it to work properly. If we sailed with wind forward of the beam, the Sailomat tended to round up into irons; if we sailed with wind aft of the beam, it would fall off to dead downwind and stall. We periodically consulted with Stellan via email, who very patiently gave us ideas for perfecting his Sailomat's balance with our boat. Meanwhile, we found a nice comment left on our blog by Alan K., asking about our experiences with the Sailomat. Here's what we discussed:
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Comment by Alan K:
How has the sailomat worked for you? I'm considering buying one.
Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009
To: Alan K. Alan, your question is a good one. We're still debugging the Sailomat and trying to get it very finely tuned, so unfortunately we haven't had the chance to use it on long passages yet. I wouldn't say that's the fault of Sailomat, because one of us didn't read the instructions all the way through, plus one of us skipped some steps in the installation, so it's no surprise we're still struggling with it. The owner/inventor, Stellan Knöös, is very accessible and willing to help, which is a big plus for us. I believe that if you pay very careful attention to – & spend a lot of time with – the initial installation, which balances the Sailomat as closely as possible to the center of gravity of your boat, the tuning of the Sailomat itself should be easier than what we have experienced….So, again, we're still working with it – intermittently – and I believe most of our difficulty so far has been user error. We're both going to give it another go on our next 250-mile crossing of the Sea, which happens in calm seas tomorrow…so we'll give an update when/if we have one!
Kind regards,
M&G
Reply sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009
To: M&G
Thanks very much Gary. On my boat due to an outboard rudder Stellan indicated an off center mount would be best and usually works well. What installation aspect do you think is causing you problems? I
have experience with some other vanes some good some bad. I was thinking the variable ratio of the sailomat would allow tuning for the boat and conditions. Guess they're all finicky! 🙂 I appreciate any
further experience feedback you have. I'm glad to hear Stellan is accessible for help.
Alan
From: M&G
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
To: Alan K.
Alan, our biggest mistake was not getting the base of the Sailomat attached to our stern properly – our stern sure looked flat all across the back (we have a swim step type stern) but we discovered that it had a nice curve to it that caused the base plate of the Sailomat to be out of the vertical & horizontal planes. We shimmed it a bit but since then have had no opportunity to fine-tune it. I guess the thing to keep in mind is to spend a lot of time in prep – then the rest may come more easily. We're going to do a 2-day, 250-mi. crossing of the southern Sea of Cortez from Maz to Isla San Francisco starting today (11/18) so hopefully we'll have more info to share when we get back to Internet connectivity in mid-December.
Gary
Reply sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009:
Thanks. Look forward to your experience when you return. Have a great sail.
Regards,
Alan
[MS here. Yeah, last November we thought the biggest installation error was not attaching the Sailomat's base in synch with The Fox's vertical and horizontal planes. But lo, there was another large installation error yet to discover. Here's what happened after a couple crossings of the Sea plus a few short trips:]
From: M&G
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010
To: Alan K.
Hey there, Alan – Happy New Year!…On our southern crossing of the Sea of Cortez from Bahia de los Muertos to the Puerto Vallarta area, we got the Sailomat working like a champ. How? Gary finally followed the instructions in the manual. Turns out 95% of our problems all related to Gary having installed the control lines…precisely backwards. Ahem.
We're still trying to fine-tune the Sailomat, as in our minds it seems to oversteer & wander a bit – but we've talked to other boats who have different brands of wind vanes, & they've all told us that such behavior is common to all wind vanes' design. Bottom line: in our 342-mile crossing, when we had above 8 knots of wind which was about 1/2 the time, with wind & waves mostly astern or off the aft port quarter, the Sailomat steered the boat well. We think its tendency to come up & fall off by about 20 degrees might have been mostly due to the boat having to climb up & slide down the sides of 4' to 6' waves off the aft quarter at a 6-sec. period. When the wind dropped below 8 knots with turbulent seas like that, the Sailomat – like all wind vanes, we assume – could not hold a course & we either hand-steered or used the Autohelm autopilot. All in all, we're pleased with the Sailomat & think it'd be worth your time to check it out & contact the owner/designer, Stellan Knöös, with further questions….
[MS here again. Yes, we're very happy with our Sailomat and we feel it's worth having on any boat for the way it steers, its zero energy demand, and the far lower risk of irreversible failure of its parts. The only two instances in which I have heard people say they cannot get the Sailomat to work, were both instances in which Stellan's instruction manual was not followed. It's really quite simple: as Stellan says, study his manual, follow ALL his instructions in the order they are given, and your Sailomat will function properly. Tr
y improvising, and you will have a sad.
I don't believe any wind vane can steer well in a combination of very light air and lumpy seas, so for those conditions we'll continue to hand steer or use our faithful Otto. But now that he's put together properly, Otto's new little Swedish friend Mat will be taking over most of The Fox's self-steering duties from here on. Thanks, Stellan!
And thank you, Alan K., for asking those questions and waiting so patiently for our replies!]
m
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