Are Windvanes Still Viable for Self-Steering?

In the cruising community, that might be a provactive question and I am sure opinions will fall fairly clearly one way or another, yeah or nay. As it happens, I have sailed something like 50,000 miles with a Sail-o-Mat windvane steering my Mason 43 ketch Clover. But, today, modern autopilots are so reliable, durable and accurate, it begs the question of whether windvanes are necessary. Not long ago, I sailed 3,200 miles across the North Atlantic on the modern 50-Hanse Maverick and the autopilot steered impeccably for 17 days. And on my Jeanneau 45.2 we sailed many thousands of miles with the autopilot steering and again no problems. Two falls ago, I sailed in the Salty Dawg Fall Rally aboard Pandora, a Aerodyn 47 and autopilot did all the steering. But, owner, Bob Osborn, also had a Hydrovane windvane on the stern, just in case. I liked that. So, I think windvanes have a rightful place on a voyaging boat because there are silent, reliable and use no electricity. The last point is the key. Were I fitting a boat out for voyaging, in addition to a top-of-the-line autopilot with spare parts for it I would certainly consider adding a windvane and using it often offshore.  What do you think? Email me: george@bwsailing.com