Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
Not a direct answer to your question but another way to determine wind details. you plug it into your phone and it provides speed and direction of the wind.
I'll update you guys in the new year when I get mine. Seems to good to be true.
If I were mounting an anemometer to the mast, I'd probably mount it forward of the upper shroud, in the foreward starboard quadrant, to the starboard side of the forestay or jib furler. That's the only spot that you could get a good bite for screws into the mast. It might also be possible to rig something to the mast head where the foreward spinnaker block is attached. Do you need much more than some thick wall aluminum tubing - with a 1-1.5" O.D., mounted horizontally?
The anemometer bracket calls for a flat, horizontal surface. Come to think of it, the plate that bridges the two side plates on the spinnaker crane might be perfect.
The anemometer bracket calls for a flat, horizontal surface. Come to think of it, the plate that bridges the two side plafes on the spinnaker crane might be perfect.
What anemometer are we going with here?
I've been recently thinking about installing one since I'm going to have the mast down anyway. I've also thought about going the cheap route and using like a home weather station or some sort. If going that route, I considered mounting on a pole from the stern so if it acts up or anything I can easily access it.
OJ, I made a bracket to mount a Raymarine anemometer to the masthead. I looked through all my pictures and couldn't find a single one that shows it. Next time I am up at the lake I will snap one for you, although it could be several weeks.
If I remember correctly it was a scrap piece of 1/8" thick aluminum that I put a z-bend in. Each bend was only about 30 degrees or so and they upper bend was not the same as the lower bend because the masthead casting does not sit level. I drilled mounting holes in the tongue (for lack of a better term) to mount the anemometer with screws from underneath. Then I drilled and tapped the masthead casting and mounted the bracket base to it. Also worth noting is that when I drilled the holes in the bracket for the masthead screws, I made the holes very large so that I could have enough play to make sure I could align it.
Also, I used aluminum machine screws to mount it to the casting in an effort to avoid galvanic corrosion. That was a mistake. The AL is so soft I could tell that if I ever had to remove one it would probably break. Better to use SS screws and anti-seize compound.
I found a picture where the bracket is visible in the background. Not the best quality but a bad picture is worth a thousand great words. This was taken while we were laying out the swim platform for the boat.
Not sure its any better, but here is a zoomed/cropped version
Good thinking Chris! I never considered running the support arm aft. Seems like every anemometer I've noticed was forward of the masthead. I was going to mount the Davis Windex aft just as a second/manual reference . . . but by placing the anemometer aft - it would serve both purposes. Excellent! Thanks!
I knew there was a reason my boat was so slow, I've been sailing backwards all this time! Just kidding, the anemometer faces forward just like it should. If you face it backwards I suppose you would have to mount the display upside down because the needle would point 180 from where it should. Sorry to burst your bubble. We also have a Windex on the aft of the masthead, it's just not in that picture.
Intuitively, it does seem like the masthead casting should point up in the front and down in the back, but it's actually the other way. Not sure why it's not level. I'm also not sure why intuition says it should be the other way.
Intuitively, it does seem like the masthead casting should point up in the front and down in the back, but it's actually the other way. Not sure why it's not level. I'm also not sure why intuition says it should be the other way.
I reckon it's to get maximum height for the spinnaker - and to keep halyard for same some distance away for the foresail halyard . . . IMHO.
If you face it backwards I suppose you would have to mount the display upside down because the needle would point 180 from where it should. Sorry to burst your bubble. We also have a Windex on the aft of the masthead, it's just not in that picture.
Understood, our new Raymarine unit has a setting to account for aft facing mounting. Yeah, we may mount the "stub" on top of our spinnaker crane - but that doesn't sit level either!
. . . and perhaps the Windex will stay where it is.
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.