Any wind generator (even the KISS) will generate a certain
amount of vibration. That will be transmitted down the mast
and be annoying. Most wind generators mounts have vibration
dampeners. The blade noise is fairly low in a KISS. Also, in a
really blow you need to be able to tie the blades down or even
remove them. That being said, many folks mount them on the
front of the mizzen and seem to be happy with it. All the
way at the top of the main mast may create enough weight aloft
and wind resistance to a cause some strange sailing performance.
Last thing, wind generates operate best with a nice constant flow
air through them. At the top of the mast, when the wind picks
up, the thing will be waving wildly around probably not generating
too much power and beating itself to death.

Doug (happy KISS owner)
s/v Callista

"beldar" wrote in message
ble.rogers.com...
I've got no experience with wind generation but will be jumping in with
both feet soon as we're moving to rigging for self-sufficiency. Here's
the scenario. The sailboat is 28' long. I'm looking at a KISS windgen
setup. I'm concerned about noise although the KISS unit is purportedly
one of the quietest. Please give me your thoughts about the wisdom or
lack thereof of mounting the generator at the top of the mast with the
mounting pole bracketed to the side of the mast. It's out of the way,
can rotate 360degrees and the noisemaker is placed some 40' from the
interior of the cabin. Obviously remounting an aerial or two will need
to happen and there would have to be some sort of rig to manually stall
the blades in highwind conditions. Please feel free to point out any
blatantly stupid reasons why I shouldn't be doing this...cuz I don't
know it all yet and I'm not afraid to ask!