Windvane self-steering · Windpilot
Windpilot Pacific
The servo-pendulum windvane: lighter, cheaper and more powerful in a breeze than an auxiliary rudder gear.
- Indicative price
- $6,500–$9,000 unit
- Fitted
- $7,500–$11,000
- Rated for
- Vessels to 30 t
- Editor score
- 63 / 100
The Windpilot Pacific is a German gear. Instead of its own rudder, it uses a pendulum blade in the water whose sideways swing pulls lines to the wheel or tiller, so the boat's main rudder does the steering. The faster the boat goes, the more power the pendulum generates, which makes servo-pendulum gears superb in a strong following wind and one reason they have long dominated singlehanded round-the-world sailing.
It is lighter and cheaper than a Hydrovane, mounts more easily on many transoms, and steers more precisely at speed. It does not provide an emergency rudder, and the lines to the wheel take some setting up and need attention on passage. In Australian cruising fleets it is the second most common windvane and the usual choice for lighter, faster yachts and for owners on a tighter budget.
Verdict
Windpilot Pacific drive sizing
Pacific suits most yachts from about 9 m to 18 m; the Pacific Light suits smaller boats and the Pacific Plus adds an auxiliary rudder for larger or centre-cockpit yachts.
Specifications
Autopilot components, voltage and steering modes
- Sensor
- Wind vane with course adjustment
- Drive
- Servo-pendulum blade generating steering force from boat speed, transferred by lines to the wheel or tiller
- Voltage
- None
- Network
- None (mechanical)
- Power draw
- None
- Steering systems
- Mechanical wheel (cable, chain or rod); Tiller
Modes
- Steers to apparent wind angle only
Features
- Power increases with boat speed
- Light and compact
- No electrical load
- Excellent downwind in a breeze
For and against
Autopilot strengths and limitations
- Cheaper and lighter than an auxiliary-rudder gear
- Very powerful at speed
- Well-supported by the manufacturer for remote owners
- No emergency rudder
- Steering lines need setting up and tending
- Blade can foul weed or lines
- Less effective at low speed
Who fits it
Boats and places where this system is recommended
Australian waters
- Western Australia → For yachts leaving Fremantle across the Indian Ocean.
- Gippsland Lakes and Bass Strait → A servo-pendulum vane is the answer to the Bass Strait power problem. It steers for days without an amp, it does not care about a flat battery, and on a shorthanded crossing it keeps steering while you deal with everything else.
- Sunshine Coast and Fraser Coast → Worth fitting in Bundaberg before an offshore departure. A servo-pendulum vane steers for days on no power at all, which is the difference between a comfortable passage and rationing the batteries by day three.
Questions
Windpilot Pacific: frequently asked
Servo-pendulum or auxiliary rudder?
Servo-pendulum gears are lighter, cheaper and more powerful at speed; auxiliary-rudder gears like the Hydrovane give you an emergency rudder and need no lines to the helm. Heavy or centre-cockpit boats often lean to Hydrovane; lighter aft-cockpit boats to servo-pendulum.
Alternatives to consider
The systems most often weighed against this one.
- Windvane self-steeringHydrovane
Hydrovane Windvane Self-Steering
- Indicative
- $9,000–$12,500
- Editor score
- 60
- Below-deck systemRaymarine
Raymarine Evolution EV-200 (Sail and Power)
- Indicative
- $5,900–$7,600
- Editor score
- 80
- Below-deck systemB&G
B&G NAC-3 Autopilot (Triton2 Pilot Controller)
- Indicative
- $4,300–$5,300
- Editor score
- 77
Head to head
Comparisons featuring this system
Autopilot commissioning and operator training
A $11,000 installation with no handover is a gamble. Half a day on the water with the installer or an instructor covers the modes, the override, the alarms and a failure drill. It is the cheapest safety equipment aboard.