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Thanks for the “telling off” @RobVice_GBR41 😁 I am busy making a small Jones for my 36 and have made the body out of brass. So it is heavy(ish). I need to solder some pins in situ and so having the body out of a “meltable” material was not an option. this picture is of it part built. I will see if I can drill out some material to reduce the weight.

Still a long way off but I am hoping to do A week in Gosport (27 July to 1 August) with my long and graceful “Hadeda”. But to do so I need to find a helper. Anyone out there willing to offer their services? No previous poling experience necessary, just willingness, and reasonable mobility We will not win the event with the old girl, but we will take points off people…. cheers Wayne.

During the various COVID lockdowns I acquired a vintage Marblehead that needed some restoration. It was set up for Braine control, something that I quickly decided, as a radio man, was not for me. At that time I still regarded the vane sailing gang as a bunch of old men that were yet to embrace modern technology, so it was with some trepidation that I decided to try my hand at making a Vane gear for the boat. That was the start of a journey that I am thoroughly enjoying. I now find myself in that gang of old men who walk around lakes, poles in hand, cussing boats that are not doing what you think you set them up to do..... Here is my journey 1 - EZ Vane I came across the drawings on VMYG and it seemed easy enough to make so I ordered up some brass sheet and set about machining the parts using a handheld drill and a rather wobbly drill-press. For the round bits I roped in Derek Morland who had a lathe, was kindly donated a dial by Graham Reeves and hey presto, I had a vane. While it was functional it had a lot of slop and wobbled around a bit. 2 - EZ Vane - Attempt 2 Having acquired a mini-late with a small milling attachment I decided to try again. This time I was able to machine reasonable slots in the brass and turn my own shafts. I also made up a dial drawing and had a plastics shop to make a bunch up for me. To improve the look I bought and used a small nickel plating kit. The end result was much better and I still use this vane on my vintage marblehead today 3 - "A" boat Vane Having had my appetite tickled by the marblehead Nigel Brown kindly gave a wooden 1980's John Lewis design "A" boat. The hull needed re-decking and a lot of work but we got there in the end. The guru @Derek Priestley advised that the EZ vane may be a bit light for the "A" and kindly lent me one of his vanes to copy. I initially made the body out of 3 pieces of aluminium which I bonded together with epoxy. Unfortunately the epoxy bond was not great and the vane fell to pieces on day 1 of the 2023 A week. Overnight I remade the body in brass and silver soldered the pieces together. Still going strong and it easy to use for a beginner like me. 4 - Baby Jones The next and most recent project was to make a small vane for my old woodie v36" built by John Gale. Using Nigel Brown's vane for inspiration and some parts donated by @Graham Elliott we now have something that resembles a small Jones. Not quite done and not yet tested on the boat, but seems to be in good shape 5 - Jones This is the first of my 3 vanes not built by me. Needs a bit of a clean and some fettling, but a very nice bit of kit 6 - Corby A stunning piece of engineering that came with another vintage M that sits in my shed. I have not used it yet but one observation is that I wonder if it might be a bit finicky to adjust the "broken" tacking angle, not something you want to have to do in a just at the bank. Also gives you no ability to have slightly different tacking angles on each side to accommodate a boat that sails better on one tack over the other. But I am sure that, as this is a sought after vane, my concerns are unfounded 7 - 3D printed EZ Vane This vane came with my 36 but I feel that it's too out of character for the old woodie. Destined to sit on my shelf until I find something more modern that needs a vane 8 - Clem Coming up will be an attempt to make a Clem which I will use on a 1932 "A" boat that I will get around to restoring at some point... . . . I dread the day when my wife asks me why I have some any vanes, but I will cross that bridge when I come to it.... I hope that this story gives other people the confidence to build something. Vane sailing a boat is fantastic, don't be afraid.... we are not all grumpy old men.

I think I'll have a go at a Reece Easy vane. Relatively simple to make with brass from the hobby shop and a bit of perspex. I had a Jones gear given to me years ago in Australia and can't, for the life of me, remember what happened to it. It came with a Stollery marblehead kit. Gary

I’m sure someone could 3D print it…

I know @RobVice_GBR41 Just tongue in cheek. here is the offending piece. Will try to drill out some weight. Currently weighs 35g

Im tempted, would like to gain an understanding of how Vane sailing works. I am based in North Wales and because of other commitments (big boat sailing) wouldnt be able to arrive until late on the 28th. Does the event start on the Sunday or Monday ?

The Jones gear was often copied (including by a much younger me as a school metal working project!) and I used them as Marblehead gears and Dad has got one the Dick Seagar (now there’s a blast from the past!) scaled up for his A class (Wokanido) and yes I’ve seen versions used on many a 36r just as Derek says.. To be honest it’s often a case of start with what youve got, yes maybe it’s a few grams heavier but if it’s cleaned and working efficiently and you get the angles right on the lake then it’ll beat a poorly set new lightweight gear. the emphasis on vane sailing is to be ‘right not light’ maybe at the very top level you need both but you will often see very old yachts take good points from the latest most expensive boats because the trim is everything on vane sailing. So start with the Jones gear and take joy in seeing the past members pride a joy sailing down the lake again. I absolutely love the idea that the 36r class could race again at Eastbourne, that idea Is enough for me to dust one of my old girls off!

Jez, The moving carriage would look great on "Bobcat" as that's what it had on originally. The break back is a Jones type and with the bottom slot cut down will probably be o.k. on a 36. several of us at Fleetwood use Jones types on our 36 boats. Maybe, in the future, when you've had some practise, Eastbourne could host the V36" Nationals over a weekend?

Some great pieces of history there Jez