System for monitoring water flow angle relative to a boat keel

In a device for monitoring the angle between the direction of the ambient water flow and the keel of a sailboat,

• a sensing vane rotatably mounted on the hull of the boat immediately forward of the leading edge of the boat keel, said vane having its rotation axis in the longitudinal center plane of the boat and extending from said rotation axis towards said keel,
• transducer means mounted on said hull and coupled to said vane for generating an electrical signal in accordance with rotational movement of said vane from a predetermined central position,
• follower means mounted on said boat at a location remote from said transducer means and connected to receive the electrical output of said transducer means, said follower means having a rotatable shaft which rotates in accordance with rotation of said vane, and
• an indicator having a scale calibrated to provide readings of the water flow angle, said scale having a marker thereon at the reading for a predetermined optimum water flow angle, said indicator having a pointer which is driven along said scale by the follower means shaft.

A device for monitoring the angle between the direction of ambient water flow and the keel of a sailboat comprising:

• a sensing vane mounted on the hull of the boat immediately forward of the leading edge of the sailboat keel for rotation about an axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal center plane of the hull,
• means responsive to rotational movement of said vane for providing a rotational movement in accordance with said vane movement at a location remote from said vane comprising a position transducer coupled to the rotational output of the vane for generating an electrical signal in accordance with said rotational output and a follower located at said remote location and connected to said transducer to receive said electrical signal,
• indicator means responsive to said follower for providing an indication of the flow angle, and
• means responsive to rotation of said follower for providing an alerting signal when a predetermined optimum water flow angle is being attained.