# Just how important is a wind gauge?



## funsailthekeys (May 15, 2008)

How important is this little thing to you? This is the picture. You are just starting a trip to Key West from Ft. Myers, Fl. on a 38' catamaran. You notice that it isn't working. Would you take your life in your hands and go or stay in port until it's repaired? This is assuming that you actually can sail and you have only a week for the trip. The weather is normal for this time of year. I would like to hear your reactions to know if this is a go or no go instrument.


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## DrB (Mar 29, 2007)

*A Wind Gauge is a gadget..*

Gadgets don't sail boats, people do.

They most often don't have them on small sail boats, and some folks don't even have them on larger ones. Those boats sail fine without them. If your looking for a wind directional indicator, tie a piece of yarn on some of the stays.

I hardly ever look at my wind speed gizmo when I sail.

DrB


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## christyleigh (Dec 17, 2001)

Day sailing around the bay with its shifty winds - very important. Once out of the bay - not so much. If you have a Windex on your masthead (although its a neck breaker) and a hand held wind meter you are all set. If I didn't have a Windex I'd buy one and put it up on the bow pulpit (if I couldn't get to the masthead) just to have something to keep referring to.


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## Stillraining (Jan 11, 2008)

A steady wind has never caused me any problems....It is the microbursts or squall line that has...the wind gage will not be giving you an accurate reading once your knocked flat on the water and clinging to the side of your hull for dear life... 

Learn to read the weather and the characteristics of your boat not a gauge..


PS: Never buy or venture out to sea, a boat with a max wind speed warning lable affixed to its hull...


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## Sapperwhite (Oct 21, 2006)

I don't have one, or want one (masthead that is). I set sails based off of current conditions. If the boat (mono) is heeling past about 20 or so degrees, reduce sail. If it heels more, take more sail in. 

I have a windex, but that just gives wind direction (more important than speed). I do have a little handheld wind unit that I pull out for a few seconds when the wind is piping up good, just for a rough reference though.

Yeah, I would "take my life in my hands". If you let that stop you from getting out, sell the boat. Like that candy bar commercial says "not going anywhere for awhile?"


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## BlowinSouth (Nov 10, 2007)

Are you talking about an anemometer (wind speed) or a wind direction indicator? I do like my masthead windex but it's not a vital piece of gear for me. I have, can and would sail without one just fine. Like was mentioned before a piece of yarn on a stay will tell you wind direction.

Also, if you mean anemometer, that also is not a vital piece of gear. You can tell when it's time to reef by how the boat is handling.

Just my two cents.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

My wind speed crapped out about a year ago and I haven't really missed it since. I will eventually fix it but am in no hurry to do so.


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## JohnRPollard (Mar 26, 2007)

I wouldn't even give it a second thought. Go sailing, repair the wind gauge when you finish your trip. You are not "taking your life in your hands" by sailing without one -- far from it.

We don't even have one on our boat. Someday it might be nice, but as far as upgrades, it's a pretty low priority. 

We do have a masthead Windex, but again, its absence would not delay a departure.


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## Boasun (Feb 10, 2007)

The wind gauge is great for filling out your weather log. But what you are reading is the apparent wind. Now you need to convert that to true wind.
But if you are tie up at the pier then your wind gauge will read true wind.
You can use it to determine when to reef... but the pucker power of your backside would have already determined that it is time to reef.

Pucker power is the tightness of your anus to where you can't drive a needle up it or when you become very anal retentive. Now that is pucker power. And it will tell you when to reef before the wind gauge does.


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## CharlieCobra (May 23, 2006)

Yep, I know all about butt lip marks in seat cushions and no, the anemometer isn't necessary. Oh Joy doesn't have one either.


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## jimmalkin (Jun 1, 2004)

I agree absolutely on the new-to-me nautical term "pucker power" as a replacement for wind speed gauge. Having said that, I do use the apparent wind indicator a lot when trying to get the most out of the boat when heading to windward in light to moderate air. And - I also agree - you are NOT putting yourself, your crew or your boat in harm's way without the gauge - focus on the weather and the sea and the pleasure. You may in fact sail better without the distractions of instrumentation and technology.


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## primerate84 (Jun 14, 2006)

I agree with DrB. Its a gadget and you should be able to tell when to reef by the way the boat is handling and your wind "feel".


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## TAK (Jul 14, 2003)

I would not waste a day fixing it if all you have is a week. Also its much easier to BS the conditions later around beers in a bar if you dont really know the true wind speed.. go for it.


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## sailortjk1 (Dec 20, 2005)

teshannon said:


> My wind speed crapped out about a year ago and I haven't really missed it since. I will eventually fix it but am in no hurry to do so.


Same with me.

The most fun part about having a wind gauge for me was being able to toggle between apperant and true.


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## Stillraining (Jan 11, 2008)

CharlieCobra said:


> Yep, I know all about butt lip marks in seat cushions and no, the anemometer isn't necessary. *Oh Joy doesn't have one *either.


Yep we knew that...HeeeHeee...


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## NOLAsailing (Sep 10, 2006)

Mine was broken when I bought my boat and I removed the anemometer from the masthead. I would like to have it for racing (to better gauge which sail is appropriate) but I've sailed from 0 knots to 35+ over the last year without it. I haven't even broken anything as a result. I'll get it going (or more likely upgrade to a better system) when the boat bucks allow it.

Go sailing.


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## Freesail99 (Feb 13, 2006)

I don't think you really need it. It is just one more thing to break or spend money on.


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## funsailthekeys (May 15, 2008)

*Thanks to all the real sailors.*

I am the operations manager of a charter fleet and wanted conformation that the failure of the wind insturment was not a life and death struggle as the charterer stated. ( now if only my boss would see that) PS the boat has top of the line electronics and weather overly. (covet-covet)


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## SEMIJim (Jun 9, 2007)

Whether it's just a direction indicator (Aka: "Windex") you're talking about, or electronics that give you apparent wind speed and direction, or even fancier stuff that'll give you true wind speed and direction, as well: You don't _need_ it.

Jim


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## Boasun (Feb 10, 2007)

funsailthekeys said:


> I am the operations manager of a charter fleet and wanted conformation that the failure of the wind insturment was not a life and death struggle as the charterer stated. ( now if only my boss would see that) PS the boat has top of the line electronics and weather overly. (covet-covet)


The Charter party always seem to think that everything should be perfect, perfect and be able to sail straight into the wind with no problems. 
Something about the old saw; The Customer is always right..... 
Yahhhh! Tell me another one.


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## Sapperwhite (Oct 21, 2006)

If I'm paying for a charter I wouldn't expect to show up and not have things working. However, one thing is not the end of the world.... but what if a day into the trip the VHF craps out. Showing up to broken gear doesn't instill a lot of confidence, and it looks unprofessional (even if the charterer is a wuss).


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## SailKing1 (Feb 20, 2002)

If you are a racer i can understand the desire, every advantage helps otherwise there really is no need. Learn to read the wind from the feel on your face and the sighs around you. The water is a great indicator and never lies. I have neather a wind speed or windex.


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## T34C (Sep 14, 2006)

funsailthekeys said:


> I am the operations manager of a charter fleet and wanted conformation that the failure of the wind insturment was not a life and death struggle as the charterer stated. ( now if only my boss would see that) PS the boat has top of the line electronics and weather overly. (covet-covet)


I don't know a polite way to say this, but if someone thinks a failed wind instrument constitutes a "life and death" issue they very likely don't know what they are doing and probably shouldn't have been allowed to charter the boat in the first place.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

*Oh, really*

Have gone far and wide without one. If you are that faint of heart without something simple like that, you shouldn't be sailing. It's a nice thing to have, but definitely not necessary! What a butthead!


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## DrB (Mar 29, 2007)

*Yes, a charter boat is a different issue.*

If I am paying to rent a boat, car, hotel room, etc., I expect everything to work. I don't expect everything to be in pristine condition, but in good working order is expected. If I had no other options to fix a damaged piece of equipment, and the items that were not working were not critical to the safety of the crew or vessel, I would make it very clear to the charteree that the items were defective before they left the dock.

DrB


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## funsailthekeys (May 15, 2008)

*Yes I agree with everyone*

I feel that the wind instrument is not necessary for most purposes.(my opinion here) As you are all boat owners, you are well aware that things fall out of the sky at the moat inopportune times. As I am sure you will all agree the captain is ultimately responsible to accept or deny the vessel. This has been fun with all the spirited replies, thank you all. I forgot to mention that it failed 2 days after he left and the unit was only 4 days old.


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## Stillraining (Jan 11, 2008)

weareleaving said:


> Have gone far and wide without one. If you are that faint of heart without something simple like that, you shouldn't be sailing. It's a nice thing to have, but definitely not necessary! What a butthead!


Nice first post... ...Welcome to Sailnet none the less..Good thing we dont have neg.reps anymore..or is it?


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## johnshasteen (Aug 9, 2002)

I've voyaged far and wide on Paloma and have never missed it - matter of fact, if we had a wind guage in either of the two Force 10 storms that we've weathered, we would have really been worried. In the March '08 storm, for 36 hours, we thought the winds were 40-50 and gusting a bit over - no real big deal for Paloma, the bluewater warrior princess. When we got back into port and I talked to the Coast Guard, they said, oh no, the winds were 50-60, gusting well above 60 and when you couple that with the cold front that was carrying the winds was moving 35 mile per hour - the wind effect was even higher - I thought, I was sure glad we didn't know that at the time.


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## chucklesR (Sep 17, 2007)

Back to the specific conditions of the OP,
My windex died as a result of a collision with a heft wind blow chunk of tree on week three of my brand new Gemini. It points from 0 to 90 degrees, now where else - wind speed was not affected. 

I still haven't fixed it because I hate going aloft. 

It's important only in that I can't operate my St60+ in windvane mode, otherwise every time I've checked the boat still sails just the same.


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## sgkuhner (May 5, 2002)

If you were going to leave to sail around the world in the trade winds, I would definitely recommend a wind speed indicator. The reason is that when sailing down wind, it is hard to judge how hard the wind is blowing. On our first circumnavigation in the early 70s, the only instrument we had was a wind speed indicator. We didn't even have a depth sounder; we used a lead line. However, that said, the wind-speed indicator was a useful tool in determining when to reef when going down wind. Other than on a broad reach or run, we would ALWAYS reef the FIRST time I thought about it. My motto was another day I have, another mast I don't have. As for the wind direction, pieces of yarn tied to the rigging will do fine.


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## blt2ski (May 5, 2005)

Did Columbus have one when he sailed the ocean blue?

Enjoy your trip

Marty


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## therapy23 (Jul 28, 2007)

funsailthekeys said:


> I am the *operations manager *of a charter fleet and wanted conformation that the failure of the wind instrument was not a life and death struggle as the charterer stated. ( now if only my boss would see that) PS the boat has top of the line electronics and weather overly. (covet-covet)


I wonder why you came here for an answer, given your position.

What is your bosses title?

The charterer might be over exaggerating the need in your mind but given you said it was a cat, then to someone unfamiliar with that type of cat (a charterer for example  ) and the need to reef at specific wind speeds as per the manufacturer, then the charterer may well need that info to not make a mistake in estimating the time to reef and indeed risk "life".

Is the insurance policy up to date?

worst case;
Boat is said to be OK to charter.
Charterer disagrees but follows your (professional charter business) standing on the matter.
Wind blows boat over with only one reef in place.
Someone drowns.
You lose.


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## merttan (Oct 14, 2007)

I'm no pro... but I don't see the necessity of it at all... After all what you feel is what you get... If you cant feel the wind on your face, you may need one...
A wet finger is always useful for those purposes


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## davidpm (Oct 22, 2007)

The charter customer was possibly just making a big deal out of it to get a discount. Might as well nothing to loose.


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