it wants to round up hard in a strong wind...why?

[centerline]

I presume you're not going to deliberately go agrouind on the rocks for the experience... :naughty:

Ive been aground and on a lee shore with powerboats.... it wasnt good then and I cant imagine it would be any better in a sailboat... so I already have that experience and learned all i needed to know.

and although I knew my boat will round up, with the help of this site and the shared information I have learned why a boat rounds up.... with that information I can make it better.... but I needed the experience to know exactly what was being talked about.. as much as i love books, im a "hands on" learner
we can read all about it and we can talk all about it, but its usually when we have the actual hands on experience is when we learn and understand...

 

[Ken Honeycutt]

Your experience reminds me of the first time I sailed a Hobie Cat. Never had been on a sailboat bigger then a sunfish and that was only for an hour or so. Got out on the bay and was close hauled thinking wow! this is fantastic! Then I realized I was heading toward the Texas City dike wall at tremendous speed and had no idea how to turn. That was the first time I flipped a catamaran. Only way to learn is doing what your doing.

 

[Stu Jackson]

So too most boats with mast head rigs can easily sail quite well with JIB/GENOA ONLY ...

Yup, just did it today, all day.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Folks, we have to re4member the OP: He did it on purpose.

And it is HEEL, like a doggie, not HEAL, like a doctor. Pulleeeze...

 

[centerline]

Folks, we have to re4member the OP: He did it on purpose.

And it is HEEL, like a doggie, not HEAL, like a doctor. Pulleeeze...

Thank you Stu....
it was all done on purpose..... testing the boat, the rigging and the wind... and myself.

I sailed with more sail than i knew I needed.... but I didnt know why it was too much. now I do!

I sailed on a broad reach with my sails trimmed in fairly snug so it would heel..... so I could see what would happen when i approached a knock down.... I want to know the limits of my boat. I have heard so much about the dangers of a knock down, and I dont want to get into a panic situation with someone else onboard (not that i'm prone to panic, but they might be) I want to know and recognize where and when it will come, so i kept trying to get it to knock down but I couldnt..... and so I wondered why.... am I tuned wrong? if it cant happen or wont happen then am I clear of the dangers of being knocked down?... I have learned that I most likely will never experience a knockdown with this boat.... with the exception of a big wave but that is a danger of a different type, knocked down or not....
.... and my rigging was tested to the maximum that the design of the boat will allow.

what I gained over the weekend was a vast amount of knowledge and the ability to understand the theory behind the forces acting above and below the waterline that I experienced.
and yea, I have read all about it in the books, but it cant tell you how all the forces play together and what really happens.... but being in the situation did.
.....and I know my boat better because of it.

 

[chp]

I think i should add a couple of inches to the front edge of my lower rudder board for more area and a better balance.... it was very hard to hold in the strong wind.


I added 2 1/2" to the leading edge of my rudder on my 26C. Same problem as you had with the helm pressure. Last year I routinely took my boat out in 20+ knot winds and would sometimes just sail on the a reefed Genoa. Still had a ton of pressure on the tiller. Sometimes it would creak from the pressure. Over the winter I added to the rudder. Wow what a difference. Instead of two hands now its 2 fingers. Also the boat holds course better. If you let go of the tiller it will still round up, but in a slow controlled maner intsead of the wild turn it used to make. I don't know if you can knock her down or not with this mod. I don't want to find out. Best handling mod I've made to the boat.

 

[sailormanbigd]

had to respond, i had the same prob with my mac26d, would round up too early, too easily, and not much fun=could'nt keep her in the groove, and felt like i waqs'nt in controll ot her. bought the idasailors upgraded rudder-moderate improvement, less tiller pressure but still rounded up too soon. Was relieving myself of the aft end while son drove, looked down and saw the rudder head had a severe twist when pressed, alot of tiller pressure was just twisting the aluminium plates on the rudder head. Bought idas' fix for this, 50$ or so but sold boat before testing it?

 

[centerline]

I am definitively going to extend the rudder forward to balance it better as its so easy to form a piece of stainless sheetmetal to the right shape and cap the leading edge of the lower rudder board... I have a 2 piece wood rudder and the top board was cracked but fairly solid when I got it. so I thru drilled it, fore and aft, in two places and thru bolted it with stainless allthread.... and countersunk the fastners and filled over with epoxy putty.

but i also have taken the information that was shared here by the old salts..... as a boat heels, it lifts and changes the angle of the keel in the water, it looses its grab on the water and so, its effectiveness is gone.... so now its skidding or slipping to leeward by the wind..... then as that is happening, the wind blowing on the laid over(heeled) sail begins to act more like a pin wheel, or fan blade in the wind..... with the wind spilling off the rear edge of the "blade" it wants to turn it, and it does, causing it to spin to windward and in turn pulling the bow of the boat into the wind, causing a round up.... then it pops back upright. actual cause is... too much sail trimmed improperly.....
but with the rudder being so unbalanced, it was actually too much work to have any real fun while playing in the heavy winds while doing it all wrong.