NE Sailboat wrote:
The windvane system is more tricky. For a boat my size, 32', weight becomes
an issue. I don't want to have hundreds of LBS sitting on my stern.

They are nowhere near that heavy. I don't have the specs here in front
of me, but having lifted our Monitor up over the rail a couple of times,
I'd say that it's gotta be about 50 lbs., possible less. The RVG
windvane we had on our Catalina 30 (no longer made) was about the same
and didn't noticeably affect performance. It just made those long
passages MUCH more enjoyable.

Since I have a tiller...

The windvanes are great for long passages, but since you've got a
tiller, if I were you, I get myself a tiller pilot. These are cheap and
make going forward to raise sails, etc., easy. Our Catalina (which also
had a tiller) could not have been single handed without one. Within
seconds after letting go of the helm while motoring, it would be in a
tight turn, sometimes to port, sometimes to starboard. The helm was
very light, but that boat just liked to turn. Using a tiller pilot made
it a snap to single hand.