BOSUN’S BAG

Readers might wonder what on earth windvane self-steering has to do with classic boats. The answer is, quite a lot. One vane-steered yacht whose pedigree nobody would question is the late Col ‘Blondie’ Hasler’s Jester. She was a Folkboat – one of two in the inaugural 1960 Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race. Various innovative self-steering options were tried among the five entrants, including Sir Francis Chichester’s Miranda. This took the form of a large sail that pulled the rudder directly, but it was Hasler’s pendulum-servo system that came out tops.

Those us who sail classics short-handed face the