EMERGENCY STEERING IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT!

HYDROVANE IS A TRUE SECOND RUDDER AND STEERING SYSTEM  

'IN PLACE' AND 'READY TO GO' 

With a Hydrovane your boat will have two complete steering systems. The term 'Emergency Steering' implies some sort of back-up or temporary steering. The HYDROVANE is much more than that. It is a full time, 'in place' rudder and steering system.

It is impossible to over-estimate the value of back-up steering on a long passage.

"Second only to the importance of keeping the boat afloat is the importance of having steerage."

Hydrovane rudder can be directly operated by its tiller - barely visible above the transom - the black piece

The black handle is the tiller - when the vane is disengaged the tiller directly turns the rudder

MANUAL STEERING WITH THE HYDROVANE

With the vane disengaged (ratio control in the right hand setting) the Hydrovane rudder can be steered directly with its own tiller. The Hydrovane's rudder and tiller is just like that on any dinghy sailing boat. Some single-handers connect a dinghy type of tiller to Hydrovane's small tiller to make an extension that can comfortably be used some distance away in the cockpit. This kind of set-up is practical if you want to use the Hydrovane to hand steer in close quarters or wherever. This technique is only for some. When entering a harbour or marina most owners simply lock-off the Hydrovane rudder or even remove it by popping out the locking pin with a boat hook and shipping the rudder aboard with its always attached tether. 

Tiller is designed to be retrofit to extensions or to tiller style auto-pilots. Here a piece of PVC pipe of 1.5 inch (40mm) ID is used as a tiller extension - neatly fits over the tiller.

IMPROVED STEERING IN TIGHT MARINAS - If maneouvering in marinas is difficult and you have an extra pair of hands on board you might want to have a crew member manning the Hydrovane tiller to operate it in sync with the main rudder - two rudders are better than one - especially with the Hydrovane rudder in that levered position further aft. Some report this technique has dramatically improved steering in tight quarters.

• Operates just like the tiller and rudder on a sailing dinghy

• In tight marinas maneouverability improved by using Hydrovane - two rudders are better than one
  
  

TILLER AUTOPILOTS

The Hydrovane is designed to be connected to a tiller style autopilot for use when motoring or when sailing in very light winds with sloppy seas. Because the Hydrovane rudder is relatively small and it is 'balanced' it needs only the smallest of the tiller pilots.

Tiller style Auto-pilot retro-fit

The installation requires a minor retrofit. A 3/4 in. (2 cm.) wooden dowel can be used to extend the tiller and readily adapted to whichever connection is required by the tiller pilot manufacturer. Although wood is the easiest to work with the extensions have been made from many materials: PVC, plumbing copper, stainless steel etc. The tiller pilot manufacturers typically require an 18 in. (45 cm.) radius which means the extension need be 12 in. (30 cm.) or so. The extension is held in place with the rudder locking pin. The autopilot itself needs to be fitted nearby - either on the deck or rail or attached to the stern pushpit.

HYDROVANE owners have installed such tiller-pilots report strong preference for them over their expensive below deck autopilots: less noise, not under a bunk, small electrical draw, saves the larger unit for a ‘rainy day’ – and a cheap way to have yet another back-up.

• Tiller style autopilot retrofit is highly recommended - for motoring and sailing in the very light winds with sloppy seas

• Needs only the least powerful units as the rudder is balanced and relatively small 

• In its levered position further aft it is efficient and quiet

• Other self steering systems have variations on such a retro-fit. Only Hydrovane comes complete with a tiller in place that directly steers its own rudder - makes for the easiest to retro-fit ... and most effective .

Complete steering redundancy is achieved when both steering systems, the main rudder and the HYDROVANE each have separate autopilots.