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...

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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.

Wayne,   Your Corby gear seems to be missing a bit.  Ours has a small quadrant and a pair of adjustable stops to set the broken travel independently on both sides.  It came from the estate of John Gale, along with the partially complete A class hull Serica 2/3.  I have modified the guying set up and the dial.

It sounds like you have not acquired a moving carriage gear yet.  I acquired one with an old 36R but never got it to work satisfactorily.  It's sat in my workshop in bits if you want it to experiment with.

Gareth

Hi Gents,

 

Moving carriage.......... that's a challenge for you Wayne!!

 

I've got one made by the Master....Bill Sykes  (Chris Harris's godfather) .  It came off his 10r "Stroller"   I'll bring it to Southport with the Clem Edwards M vane for you to look at.

 

D

11 hours ago, Gareth said:

Wayne,   Your Corby gear seems to be missing a bit.  Ours has a small quadrant and a pair of adjustable stops to set the broken travel independently on both sides.  It came from the estate of John Gale, along with the partially complete A class hull Serica 2/3.  I have modified the guying set up and the dial.

It sounds like you have not acquired a moving carriage gear yet.  I acquired one with an old 36R but never got it to work satisfactorily.  It's sat in my workshop in bits if you want it to experiment with.

Gareth

Thanks Gareth. 
 

I have seen the Corby gears with and without the quadrant.  Not sure if the quadrant was a later addition.  Anyone out there know?

 

as for the moving carriage.  Indeed I have not got one in my collection. Happy to see if I can get it working for you if you want. 

35 minutes ago, Derek Priestley said:

Hi Gents,

 

Moving carriage.......... that's a challenge for you Wayne!!

 

I've got one made by the Master....Bill Sykes  (Chris Harris's godfather) .  It came off his 10r "Stroller"   I'll bring it to Southport with the Clem Edwards M vane for you to look at.

 

D

Thanks Derek.  Always happy to look and play   

Wayne,  If you are going to the Fleetwood Vane Marblehead event in May I will bring the moving carriage vane gear with me.