Wind indicator

Donholio

New Member
Hi, I am new to the laser but the one I just bought does not have a wind indicator.

What tends to be the most common one and where does it mount?

Also, the auto bailer came in a bag. Does it mount on the top side or below on the water side?

Thanks.
 
I use the water till I get I moving..

Personally I don't like a wind indicator, nor do many people down here.

Honestly, the time you spend looking at a wind indicator is much better spent observing the telltales and sail.

With a Laser, the luff of the sail is right in your face; you don't even have to move your eyes to see how the sail is trimmed.

That said, of those that have wind indicators here, about half use a homebrew wire coat hanger and yarn contraption glued to some sort of mast mount, made of PVC. The other half seem to use the C-Vane system, the website of which is http://c-vane.com

I still think they are a waste of money, but your mileage may vary.

As for the bailer, check out this installation guide.
http://www.jamesfreedman.org/static.php?page=static060809-000101

Regards,
Theodore
 
The C vane is the one to get, although some folks manage to mount one at the masthead.

I agree that upwind it's often a distraction: look to windward, not at the vane! But downwind in shifting breeze it is often a useful reference.
 
Just to be clear, you can have a wind indicator at the top of the mast and one down below.

Olympic and World Champ Goodison, has a vane mounted near the bow eye, and 'bottom of the fleet' me has one mounted just below the gooseneck (the spot where those fancy C-vanes go). Since a vane at eye level occasionally gets ripped off during starts, I buy lesser expensive ones and mount them upside down. They work just as well as the $35 ones, IMHO.

A wind indicator at the top of the mast is very useful going down wind, especially if you want to sail by the lee. When you look at pictures from world-level events, you will see that a few top sailors do have a vane mounted up there.
PS: if you don't want to spend the money, you can make one of those yourself from some wire and a ribbon.
 
While we are on the subject of wind indicators.

The rules say we may have a wind indicator.

The rules also are quite clear about not allowing any device unless it is specifically allowed.

Is a a wind indicator with an additional patented device that keeps the wind indicator from being fouled by the mainsheets of others a wind indicator or a wind indicator with an added patented device??

If the added patented device is not a device added to the simple wind indicator, why would there be a patent?


I am no lawyer but I believe it simply has to be one or the other

Personally, I believe, with respect to Laser racing, the C Vane is an illegal device.
 
best thing isto sticka telltale to the strap that goes over the top of the mast so when you capsise you dont loose it and you wont ever forget to put it on as it will be permanantley stuck
 
But where is best place for them. Strikes me that on the mast (by gooseneck) the indicator might be "deviated" by the wind being deflected by the sail (particularly with the wind aft of the beam and more so the more aft the wind is. e.g. on a run when the wind spills off the sail on the mast side, so this will introduce error to the indicated wind (badly explained).

Is it better to put one up on the bow ? (I appreciate you are more likely to lose one from the bow). How many people use two (i.e. one at top of mast and one on gooseneck/bow) ? I imagine the mast head one would be more accurate but then you would have to look-up to see it whereas the gooseneck/bow indicators are in your line of sight as you look around anyway.

Ian
 
The C-vane clips on the lower mast, it works well and it helps when the wind is shifty, there are also wind indicators for the bow eye and top of the mast.
 
The C-vane clips on the lower mast, it works well and it helps when the wind is shifty, there are also wind indicators for the bow eye and top of the mast.

Maybe the RC should have one. Shifty winds are a pain for the RC .
 
I have a C-Vane. I use it only on DW legs. It helps me determine my best by the lee sailing angle. It may be patented, but it is not fool proof. I had the vane ripped off in a starting "incident" some years back, but the good news was the replacement vane only costs $ 4.00.

IMO, the Guv's legality question on the c-vane has more to do w/his long running issues w/Ryan and not so much the device itself. However, (as Dennis Miller would say) I could be wrong.....
 
There is the Black Hawk model. I found this indicator to respond well. A set-up to consider is the flipping the bar so the indicator is upside down and though reads the same.
This is a helpful way to in part save it from ripping off and going in the drink , whence a sheet from another laser comes calling across the bow. It can be an issue as you fight to either control your Laser or save the intrepid indicator.

This usually happens during starting as boats or zipping past eachother on a mission.

The indicator as it irgged on the mast at eye level, keeps your head in the boat and the feel of the groove, rather eyeballing a telltale on the mast head; breaking you visual concentration.
JRF
 
I have a burgess up top and a Hawk on the mast at eye level.

I find I use the burgee and tell tales going upwind, tell tales on reaches and both on runs (especially by the lee).

I have also found that recent I am using the Hawk less and less, it is more a hangover from the days when you needed something on the mast to hold the outhaul rope up. I may remove it and see how I get on.
 
i know someone that uses 3 burgees one on top of the mast a little hawk at the bottom and one on the bow and he has loads of telltales i think i have 5 on each side so i recon he has atleast double but i have one burgee and my ears. ears are better than any burgee because if you turn to face where the wind is coming from you will feel the wind equally in boath ears far more accurate and you allreaddy have them so there free.
 
Mine is a 1" strip of single ply trash bag about 2.5-3 feet long. I tie it to the strap at the top of the mast. I don't use it too often as I have a hard time translating the apparent wind direction to actual wind direction. As some else stated, a feel for boat speed, sail trim and watching telltales it a bit easier (IMHO)
 
i know someone that uses 3 burgees one on top of the mast a little hawk at the bottom and one on the bow and he has loads of telltales i think i have 5 on each side so i recon he has atleast double but i have one burgee and my ears. ears are better than any burgee because if you turn to face where the wind is coming from you will feel the wind equally in boath ears far more accurate and you allreaddy have them so there free.

Too much. For good teltale placement and number of teltales needed check out a Colie supplied race sail.
 
Re: Wind indicator(location)

Got myself a really good bow indicator and last night tried both the bow and gooseneck indicators at the same time. Must have been F2 shifty wind and:

The bow indicator was good beating and reaching, though when beating did indicate the wind more on the beam than the gooseneck indicator (but I guess it isn't where it points in absolute terms but where you know is good). However, as the wind moved aft so the bow indicator became worse and worse and on a run it was pretty useless.

I was wondering why and thought maybe I was blocking the wind - but the same is true for the gooseneck indicator as I was sitting well forward to windward (so whilst it was a bit higher, I was a lot closer).

I was keen to try the bow indicator as it is a lot more sensitive that the Laser standard Little Hawk in light winds. However, it's on a run in light shifty winds I find an indicator most useful.

Also I found it interesting that as beating and noting both indicators I was also using the sail telltails more; which is probably a better thing to do anyway.

Ian
 
Too much. For good teltale placement and number of teltales needed check out a Colie supplied race sail.

GBR team standard issue well mine is anyway dont know about his think his friend is a chandler tho
what is colie is that an american thing
 

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