THE SAYE'S RIG WINDVANE IS NO LONGER IN PRODUCTION. PLEASE EMAIL OR CALL FOR PARTS AVAILABILITY.
A Windvane for Classic Yachts
The Saye's Rig is a unique, pendulum trimtab-on-main-rudder windvane combining the principles of servo pendulum and auxiliary rudder windvanes.
The Saye’s Rig base assembly is made of cast bronze and the mast, tiller assembly and pendulum shaft in 316 stainless steel. The airvane itself is made of traditional white sailcloth making the Saye’s Rig look right at home on the transom of a classic sailing yacht.
An outstanding feature of the Saye’s Rig is its simplicity. As the boat begins to veer off course, the vertical airvane rotates the pendulum trimtab. The force of the water flowing against the trimtab moves it and the tiller arm to either port or starboard. Because the tiller arm is attached directly to the boat’s rudder, the rudder also moves to port or starboard.
The Saye’s Rigs mast, and pendulum shaft can easily be removed in minutes without tools, leaving just the bronze base assembly and tiller arm attached to the boat.
The Saye's Rig will effectively steer boats up to 65 feet and represents the only option when auxiliary rudder and servo-pendulum windvanes won't work. Scanmar has mounting drawings for hundreds of boats in our database. If we haven't done your boat before, we'll design a mounting system using 3D CAD technology.
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Which Boats?
The Saye’s Rig is the ideal windvane for very large boats with traditional transoms and/or boats with:
Hydraulic Steering
High Freeboard
Center Cockpit/Aft Cabin
Transom Davits
Boomkin
Mizzen Boom
Strength and Durability
Over sized bronze castings and stainless steel guarantee the vane is robust and corrosion resistant. Solid fiberglass trim tab requires no maintenance.
Many successful ocean crossings and circumnavigations have proven the reliability and performance of the Sayes Rig.
Adaptability
Length of airvane mast, pendulum shaft and tiller arm are customized to fit a boat's unique configuration.
Installation
Installation on most boats is straight forward and can be accomplished by a boat owner or professional installer. Mounting the Saye's Rig only requires a universal bronze mounting bracket attached to the hull using two half-inch bolts. In addition, two stainless steel rudder plates on the boat’s rudder hold the tiller arm securely in place.
Easy to Remove and Store
Pendulum shaft and mast/airvane can be easily removed and leaving only a small bracket on transom.
Emergency Steering
If the connection controlling the boat’s rudder is broken, the boat can be easily steered by moving the mast/airvane by hand or by an adapted electronic tiller-pilot. A small, inexpensive tiller autopilot, using minimal power, can be rigged to control the Saye’s Rig. The Saye’s Rig in turn drives the main rudder. Steer by the wind or by compass.