Hi Guys,

I'm new to this forum so.. Hi!

I'm hoping someone here has good knowledge of the older Fleming Minor wind vane.

I had a Major on another yacht that worked faithfully around the SW Pacific. More recently I bought a Minor and mounted it on my current 33 footer. It has a small cylindrical knob that sets the vane position with a locking ring that you turn to lock it in position. It appears that the only way to set the course is to go to the stern and reset the vane position. On the Major you could adjust the vane by two cords running to the stern which was much better in a blow as you could make small changes in course from the companionway.

Am I missing something? Is there a better way to set the vane angle?

There are several older Fleming steering gears about and I would suggest you do a Google image search to check out the variations. There are a lot of photos. The particular one I think you are referring to is the one with the large SS tube with the gear teeth at the top. Mate of mine has one and there was another boat here with the same system. Some Flemings have a worm gear that does the same job and often has a line back to the cockpit.

My windvane is similar to a Monitor and the vane position is set by a Porsche 928 timing belt from the cockpit. I made a gear to suit at the base of the vane that connects on a shaft to the top of the gear where another smaller belt controls the head. The cockpit end has another gear held in tension with a shock cord. I can tension the gear too to restrict the gear from accidentally moving and spoiling the course setting. I think the easiest way is to instal a shaft parallel to the SS tube and make a gear to mesh with your present set up. Then use a gear at the bottom or just a drum with a couple of turns or cordage back through blocks to the cockpit.
Youtube might be worth checking as well. This is mine. The old system is there as well same belt but used differently!



There are a lot of good windvane videos on youtube. Just steal ideas from them, doesn't have to be a Fleming system.

Ringle said..
Thanks for your replies guys. I'll get photos this weekend. I've googled relentlessly for someone who may own one but nothing. Well there was one photo; but I'll take better photos and post them here soon…

One of these?
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only wind vane pics I have thanks to Donk

kettering.australialisted.com/7155/boats-yachts-parts/fleming-self-steer-global-minor_18321489.html

… the same vane as in HG02's photo also.

thanks for posting that.

Ringle said..

Thanks for replies.

Thank you Ramona for your efforts. From that later model Fleming manual, it describes what I'm hoping to achieve as a `course control line' .

The earlier Fleming Major wind vane had an indexed (ratcheted) method of rotating the vane; I had one and it worked well.

The smaller Fleming Minor wind vane that I've bought doesn't have it, it has a simple cylindrical knob and lock nut.

I was at the Tasmanian Wooden Boat festival 2 weeks ago and there was a lovely Ingrid 38 called `Taurangi' with the same wind vane as mine. They have done a lots of sea miles but they still have to lean over the stern and adjust the knob/lock nut to change course. Given that the Ingrid has a stern hung rudder of `beefy' proportions they need to lean well out to make any adjustment to the course. I asked whether this was ideal, to which they replied "no" and if I worked out a better solution would I let them know.Their vane, mine and the one in Ramona's photo of the Hartley RORC 39 are all the same; i.e. a control knob with lock nut. I've yet to meet someone with one of these vanes who has a better arrangement for the course control line.

There are a lot of ways to achieve this. In my case I use a car timing belt which is held in tension to the cockpit. The inner end has a turning block with a friction control that holds the vane at the correct angle. The head unit is driven by a rubber belt but I intend to change that to chain when I get time and can find a source of SS bike chain. Some units use a worm gear and this has a control line around a pulley. This is a bit messy and needs some method of keeping the gear in place, jam cleats etc. It is best if it can be a one handed operation so you can steer with the other hand setting the course. Flexible cable is another way. For perfect steering you have to have the sails set and be steering exactly where you want to steer. If your solo that means the vane setting control has to be at hand.
If you have not already read this book I would suggest downloading it, it's free. If you can't find it pm me.

Self Steering under sail by Peter Christian Forthmann.

What ever way you decide to go regarding making the settings remote this site is worth checking out. They are pretty good to deal with.

www.sdp-si.com/

Ringle said..
… the same vane as in HG02's photo also.

thanks for posting that.

Sorry Ringgle, I didn't see that photo of HGO2's, I thought you where referring to his Aries lift up in his earlier post. , my confusion .

I have a 28 with a skeg and transom hung rudder.
I was thinking about a vane but what you have ramona, would sink my boat.
Is there a different vane type for tiller operated transom hung rudders? Any websites you could recommend?
I googled vanes but they all are - sorry - terrible looking contraptions to my eyes. They might work well but they are unsightly and fairly complicated.

I found, using the cutter sail sheets and truck inner tubes cut into rings, hooked up - instead of surgical rubber - on the tiller working all right.
I would not mind trying a vane, though.

Many thanks for your guidance ramona!

That close up photo is exactly the arrangement I have, Ramona.

The timing belt idea sounds workable but i'd like something long enough to extend to the companionway when on passage. I could fine tune the course with the Major's ratchet clicks from under the dodger without having to get party gear on.

I'll pull it apart and see what a machine shop can do in the way of a better `rope wheel' .