I'm ok with my shorter arms in my set up. The power and distance the tip of the arm can move is limited. The potential power of a arm that is 18 ft long must be awesome.
Since my only experience with fins is with my Hat and I haven't experienced the boat without stabilizers I assumed the great tracking was at least partly due to the fins. Next time out I'll turn off the fins and pilot and see if steer a straight course. Then kick in the fins and see if it makes it dramatically better.
For instance, Nordhavn struggled a bit years ago. The number one failure or problem on the Atlantic Rally was stabilizers. Now however I don't hear of problems with them on Nordhavn's.
... Perhaps a flexable pole or springs in the rigging would help....
The earlier stabilizers that failed during the Atlantic Rally were mostly due to inadequate cooling for continuous use and hydraulic hose failures. The ones installed now are very reliable and well engineered.
I think all of the stabilizer manufacturers learned valuable lessons from that event.
...I would be interested in the experiences of those here in terms of loss of speed using them. If you're going 15 knots then .5 isn't a big deal but if you're going 7 knots I would hope paravanes are not impacting speed that much.
I have no idea on active stabilizers but we trade-off some where between 1/2 to 3/4 of a knot @ ~7 knots with the fish in the water. We have a couple choices to change that, but everything is a compromise.
We can change the angle that the fish travels through the water which can add or subtract resistance or go with a smaller fish. We are running fish that are designed for 50-60' vessel for increase comfort. So far the set up has worked for us and is worth the trade off/compromise.
...On stabilizers, what we've seen has been negligible. What I've read has been 0.1 knot.
I have a question, really out of curiosity.
When all is said and done with your various paravanes, counting all costs, how much are they costing you? I'm getting the impression that by the time everything is added up it's more than I initially thought.
And how long before repairs or replacement typically?
Larry M,
I see you attach in the center hole for the fish. Have you tried the fwd hole? It's possible the fish will work as well w a little less angle of attack and greatly reduce the load on the rigging.
Eric: If I reduce the angle, less downward force so, I sacrifice comfort.
Also running stranded SS wire should reduce the drag even further. Some skippers I ment in Prince Rupert like chain the best but chain must be very high drag. Metal (thin) fish wings should reduce drag and the "fuselage" of the fish could be modified into a more streamlined shape. Most are very blunt. You may be able to lower your drag to only loose 1/4 to 1/3 of a knot.
In over 12000 miles with the fish in the water we have less than $600 in replacement parts and servicing other than painting the poles but that's optional.
That's very good efficiency. Is that for a FD recreational vessel?
The hardware is not that expensive overall.