INSTALLATION, OBSERVATIONS, ( OVER ) ANALYSIS
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Peter Foerthmann Blog
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Transom ornaments part #1
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Tom Cunliffe – a sailor to the core
MY CHRISTMAS PRESENT
In my (ever more swiftly flowing) life, it is moments of human contact and personal connection that truly touch my soul, warm my heart and provide lifelong pleasure. Continue reading
SV Vaguebond – Ivan Steenhuyse BE
HALF WAY DONE
Hi Peter,
after sailing more than 15000 miles in 16 months, we’ve arrived in New Zealand. Our Windpilot did almost every mile of steering during our trip and she is one of the best purchases we made before leaving! We’d never take off without a Windpilot, that’s for sure.
regards
Ivan onboard SV Vaguebond CONTINUE
Posted in Blogs, Word of mouth
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SV Sea Otter – Bob Rouner US
Hello Peter,
I have now sailed my Koopmans 43, Sea Otter, to the Eastern Caribbean from Texas several times, about 14,000 miles total, always using the Windpilot, and I was always sailing singlehanded. I could not do that without the Windpilot.
I have attached a photo that was taken as I approached Bequia. Unfortunately, I was hand steering and did not have the servo rudder in the water. I plan to head towards Panama soon.
You have a great product, but what makes it even better is your personal attention, dedication and incredible service and advice, all of which is very difficult to find these days. I enjoy reading the website, and it is good to see someone with a sense of humor.
Kind Regards,
Bob Router
Posted in Word of mouth
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SV Kairos – Menno van Loon NED
YOUR PRODUCT IS JUST TOO GOOD
Dear Peter,
Just a quick update.
Depending on your perspective, I have either good or bad news. Your product is simply too good. Despite being several decades old and having been rammed by a 36 ton motor yacht, I got it working fine again. I just arrived in New Zealand after a 7 day passage from New Caledonia, including some pretty rough weather. My trusted mechanical helmsman got me safely to Opua. So, unfortunately for me, I feel I cannot justifiably claim a replacement.
Anyway, thanks for getting the pro forma invoice to me so quickly.
Cheers,
Menno van Loon continue
Posted in Word of mouth
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SV Suditude – Jean Claude Fleuret CH
MELCHIORE ANTARCTICA
Thank you for all, and hope the Windpilot go again; for the moment, a lot of miles, the track to Antarctica and 6 times Patagonia and Terra del Fuego !
Melchiore, Antarctica, a fantastic place where the Windpilot drive me, through the Drake !
Best to you
Jean-Claude Fleuret, SV Suditude WEITERLESEN
Posted in Word of mouth
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Armin Horn and his SailingGen
JOINT VENTURE
A man who openly admits to a fascination with rear ends runs a very real risk of being misunderstood. So understand me when I confess to my obsession with the hind quarters: I’m talking about work not pleasure – and here, as in most other respects, it is wisest to keep the two separate. Continue
Posted in Equipment, Portraits
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Peter´s biography 1984 – 1989
THE FIVE PILLARS
Two and a half years have whizzed by and it is high time I parked myself in front of the keyboard again to squeeze out another chapter of my life story. This has to be psychoanalysis at its best: it costs nothing and I have to find my own answers on the spot to explain how things came to be the way they were. Two birds with one stone – what could be better? Or am I missing something? Are all these words just setting up a new generation of questions that, like their forebears, will eventually catch up with me and demand a response? CONTINUE
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SV Gleda – sailing + living on a Wharram Cat
BBB Gleda Episode 1 from Barefoot Boat Bums on Vimeo.
Posted in YouTube
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Boats by nations – France Part 1
LIBERTÉ, EGALITÉ, FRATERNITÉ – or none of the above?
Freedom, equality and fraternity: values that inspired the rebirth of a nation but whose lustre seems to have faded under the onslaught of individualism, values that may or may not, depending on one’s viewpoint, have contributed to the emergence of a very particular – that is to say very particularly French – way of dealing with life, other people and the world in general.
Savoir-vivre is a concept that invites conflicting interpretations: the knowledge required to fit in effectively, for example, or an outline of where the ultimate boundaries lie in a sphere in which the individual, unswayed by the (will of) the larger whole, stands above all things. CONTINUE
Posted in Columns
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Dreaming of Brazil?
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
Questions to Jayme Santos Souza, 61, retired professor of surgery, son of famous Brazilian circumnavigator Alfredo Souza, experienced bluewater sailor and owner of several German-built yachts, highly knowledgeable about Brazilian waters, which he sailed for decades, and now nearly as familiar with our European waters, which he began to explore, with growing enthusiasm, a few years ago. CONTINUE
Posted in Blue water
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Monetizing bluewater advice
BLUEWATER ADVICE NOT FOR SELF CONFESSED IDEALISTS
The 40 years I have spent in the windvane business have shaped the way I think and left me with a clear and obvious set of priorities. A self-confessed idealist, I allow myself the luxury of believing that there are some things that come before sales and profit – and I do so fully cognisant of the fact that this makes me something of an outlier (to say the least). My obvious independence is the wind in the sails of the word of mouth recommendations that circulate through the cruising community, enabling me to sell my products around the word with no fanfare and no need whatsoever to trouble – much less pay – the usual suspects in the media. Not surprisingly, certain ladies and gentlemen of the global fourth estate have taken umbrage at my approach because it runs counter to their system of creating dependence and subverts their business plan (salary plus perks), under which paid advertisements tend to correlate with editorial attention.CONTINUE
Posted in Columns, Yachts
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SV Heroine – Paul Willaert BE
FIRST SEA TRIAL
Hello Peter, Some images and a video of the Pacific on my Contessa 32.
I’m very happy.
kind regards
Paul
Posted in YouTube
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SV Waskaran – Patrick Lataillade FR
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Hi Peter,
Thank you for your nice offer! I can see that you have not changed and still offer the same incredible service ( Though I am a bit ashamed to ask you for a piece of rope! )
I purchased your wind pilot in december 2004 after having had a lot of trouble steering Waskaran ( 11 m, 9.5 tons with a centerboard type ” Fruit de Mer” ) with an Autohelm 4000 while crossing Biscay and reaching Las Palmas pretty tired. The delivery was planned 3 days later and, having ordered from Madeira and been assured that it would work for the transom I had, the equipment was at the back of my boat, on the dock in Las Palmas at 9 am exactly 3 days later. I still tell the story to other sailors when we talk about wind vanes ! Continue reading
Posted in Blogs, Word of mouth
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Draken Harald Hårfagre – The construction of a Viking Drago
KONSTRUKTION UND BAU
AUF DEM WEG NACH AMERIKA
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SV Elenya – Jim Dilley NZ
REFERENZ FÜR 23 JAHRE 150.000 SM SEGELN MIT WINDPILOT
I have used a WindPilot Pacific for about 23 years. Have covered about 150,000 miles in that time. The gear has been fitted to our 26′ Warsash One Design for its voyage from UK to NZ, our 32 Hartley for South Pacific and our current Saga Saltram 40 for North and South Pacific and sub Antarctics. A wide variety of vessel types and sailing conditions. Continue reading
Posted in Portraits, Word of mouth
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Signs of Life
Rolling out of bed at 5 a.m. this morning, my first port of call was the sofa and a quick glance at the night’s incoming e-mail. One particular message caught my eye:
Good evening Peter,
Are you no longer among us?
Your blog has been dead for over two months, which seems most unusual for someone who has as much to say as you generally do!
Best wishes,
Dr Jörg Steffen
Dr Steffen struck a nerve (rather appropriately) and his question made me realise firstly that a blog can end up creating something of a relationship between author and readers and secondly that, that being the case, the author should really consider his readers before suddenly stopping the flow of prose. So, a good start to the day and also an effective prod to interrupt – albeit briefly – a long hiatus.
Why no blogs? In short: life. The river of life has been hurtling along swifter than ever, keeping us in the fastest stream, dragging us through the rapids and leaving few opportunities to catch breath and take stock. Forty years of Windpilot have blown by faster than a seagull in a storm (and on the seagull theme, I do feel we’ve met our fair share of incoming avian waste products in that time).
More of the same only more so, in other words: we have been compelled to acknowledge – and I say this as a simple statement of fact, not in any way as an excuse but hopefully as a polite and plausible explanation – that we cannot actually squeeze 48 hours into one day. Continue reading
Posted in Columns
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