75-84 H27 Heel angle

[Mike Birch]

I would appreciate any feedback from 75-84 H27 owners on heel angle. I can not get greater than ~17 degrees of heel before I loose effective rudder control, and that seems very slight. At ~17 degrees the boat will turn enough into the wind for me to get control back or I will pre-empt the turn by adjusting the main to bring the heel back to ~15 degrees. Is this characteristic of a 75-84 H27?Is this characteristic of a fault; rudder, standing rigging, me?

 

[Sam Lust]

Mast rake?

Check your mast rake. If it's at all aft I'd be very interested to hear what happens when you bring it upright.

 

[TOM M.]

WHY IN THE HELL < DO YA WANA HEEL?

You boat will sail faster better on it's waterline, the more you heel, the more the rudder is angled creating a brake slowing you down and making you slip sideways!!! Mike if you took off the clubfooted working jib and put a 150% genny You'll heel more, but you will not be able to go into the wind any better, because your jib sheets will be controled at the toe rail, you don't have inboard genny tracks, so forget the nonsense of heeling like the grandam add.wider is better and on your boat flatter is faster and better !!!

 

[Mike Birch]

Tom, maybe that's the answer

Tom,I do not wish to heel more I just noticed other H27's that efficiently heel more. I think you have probably answered the question, 15-17 degrees is probably an optimum angle for an H27 and the others I see are over heeling.

 

[Ken Sheehan]

I second the mast rake fix

I am chasing excessive weather helm as well. On my previous boat I was able to balance the helm regardless of heel angle (up to 20 degrees) by moving the sail area foreward over the keel. The generally accepted theory is that the Center of Effort of the sailplan should be centered over the Center of Lateral Resistance (keel+rudder). Most sailors believe that, for safety's sake, a little weather helm is desirable (I just read the crazy discalimer at the bottom) - but certainly not what we experienced while moving the boat (first real sail) across Narragansett Bay in 15-20 Kt. winds. It was a real wrestling match with the wheel winning most rounds. I've tightened the turnbuckle at the tack (foot of the headstay) having first relaxed the backstays - then retensioned the rig. In 5-10 Kts. the boat will sail in a straight line unattended for 30-60 seconds then head up slowly. In a stronger wind I expect I haven't gone far enough yet, but a little at a time is best. Better weather helm than lee helm - which leads to a gybe. Make a small move - don't overheel - and see if things feel better. Slowly creep the rig foreward - remember a bit of weather helm is considered safest.

 

[Michael Cohn]

Uh, Tom...

Every boat has a "design heel angle", i.e., the ideal angle of heel that maximizes waterline length and reduces wetted surface. This applies to both downwind and especially to upwind sailing.Flat is NOT faster.MC

 

[Jim rice]

10-15 degrees OK

My wife and I can chug along at 4.5 - 6 kts with no more than 10-15 degrees of heel just fine. Reefing the high-aspect main at the right time, and adjusting the mainsheet allows us to do so. We've cranked along at 6.5 kts in (20? 25? a buncha wind) with no more heel than this.