HAWK APPARENT WIND INDICATOR (vessels up to 8m length) - the original, the best!, Black

I've had a couple of these, and the cat version in the past. They work brilliantly but aren't cheap and are a bit delicate (but wouldn't work so well if they weren't I suppose). Just remember to take it off when you drop the mast and trail your boat 200 miles (like I didn't - twice) and they probably last a lot longer.

I purchased this as a replacement to the wind vane in our weather station which was destroyed by the recent wind storms. It is in position and working well. From reading other owner's comments, I was aware that there could be issues with it blowing off in very strong and gusty winds. Therefore as extra security I twisted a small amount of wire above the connector clips and super glued this wire, covered it in duct tape and painted it (leaving enough room for the vane to move). I fixed it to the mast in the same way. I painted the whole thing silver and also added a small weight (a small piece of metal) under the tip of it to make it less responsive to varying directions. Again, I super glued this, and then painted it. It is an excellent product, seemingly so far, robust. I ordered 2 wind vanes, they arrived on time, (thoughtfully in the same package!) was well packaged and we would definitely use this excellent supplier if required in the future.

Replacing these Hawks is a bit of an annual thing. They are not very robust and the arrow/vane can often be blown off from under the retaining ring. On the other hand they are very simple and useful for serious sailsetting/racing. I have a Hawk20 keel boat and you do need a wind indicator at the top of the mast. I have looked at installing a Tacktick wireless windex but in the end it is too expensive and this does the job well enough, if a bit prone to not being there when you look up.

This is made to attach to a yacht mast but I have attached it and also the smaller Little Hawk to a post in my garden; being a avid weather watcher, it is interesting to see it showing the varying wind direction. Probably a bit odd that I bought it for that reason but hey I love it and it is a cheap and cheerful addition to the garden!!

I found The Hawk wind indicator was very delicate to assemble. The screws provided were of poor quality, one sheared off and the two x-head screws were so soft the heads mangled when being screwed in. I found it impossible to trap the vane on to the spindle with the plastic locking block, so it kept falling off. I am going to buy something else.

Bought this to upgrade a new second hand sailing dinghy. Have been using Hawk wind indicators for years. This works just as well as all the older ones.

The arms are very insecure . Poor design for their fixation

This indicator was a good price when compared to our local traditional chandlery. I appreciate that they have to be light to work but expect to buy one every season if you de-mast as they are very fragile.