I sail my Hunter 25.5 on Lake Travis in Austin, TX. It can get brutally hot here in the simmer, so recently I added a small bimini. The 25.5 has a fairly low boom and I like to have the option of standing when at the helm, so the bimini is rigged high (> 6' off the cockpit sole) and aft of the boom.
Yesterday (the 4th of July) we went for a morning sail with the new bimini. As usual on Lake Travis the wind was highly variable ... and very gusty. We opted for main (no reef) and jib. In that configuration I find the 25.5 very well balanced ... picking up only moderate weather helm in gusts when on the wind. But yesterday (in the gusts) the weather helm seemed more pronounced than usual. There are many possible explanations ... including the possibility that the gusts were stronger than usual. But it occurred to me that perhaps the increase in weather helm was an unwanted side effect of the bimini.
My question: Is this a typical? In gusts (> 20 knots) can a bimini increase weather helm on small boats with fin keels?
Seems like it might ... because the bimini would tend to move the center of effort aft ... an effect exacerbated by heeling in a gust. Anyone else ever notice this effect?
Yesterday (the 4th of July) we went for a morning sail with the new bimini. As usual on Lake Travis the wind was highly variable ... and very gusty. We opted for main (no reef) and jib. In that configuration I find the 25.5 very well balanced ... picking up only moderate weather helm in gusts when on the wind. But yesterday (in the gusts) the weather helm seemed more pronounced than usual. There are many possible explanations ... including the possibility that the gusts were stronger than usual. But it occurred to me that perhaps the increase in weather helm was an unwanted side effect of the bimini.
My question: Is this a typical? In gusts (> 20 knots) can a bimini increase weather helm on small boats with fin keels?
Seems like it might ... because the bimini would tend to move the center of effort aft ... an effect exacerbated by heeling in a gust. Anyone else ever notice this effect?
