I don't have alot of experience sailing, this up coming season will be my 4th year with the 240. When sailing to the wind I never get weather helm the boat always wants to turn away from the wind not round up into the wind. I was hoping the regulars on the forum could give me some things to look at. The boat has the factory sails.
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Mark
Mast rake
In almost every situation this is caused by mast rake. If the mast is leaning towards the stern you end up with weather helm. She will want to round up. If the mast is leaning to far forward you will get the opposite, she will want to turn away. Try easing off the forestay a few turns and of course you will need to tighten up the uppers and lowers to maintain correct tension. It only needs slight adjustment. Go for a sail with the adjustment and you will find that you may then have negative helm or perhaps some weather helm. Rounding up when a big gust comes through can be pretty handy. The 240 will be a similar mask rake degree to the 260. Hanging a pumb bob at the end of the main halyard with the plumb bob suspended at the same height as the rams horns should show a distance from the aft face of the mast to the plumb bob of about 4-5 inches. Look forward to you tinkering and coming back to us with the result.
In almost every situation this is caused by mast rake. If the mast is leaning towards the stern you end up with weather helm. She will want to round up. If the mast is leaning to far forward you will get the opposite, she will want to turn away. Try easing off the forestay a few turns and of course you will need to tighten up the uppers and lowers to maintain correct tension. It only needs slight adjustment. Go for a sail with the adjustment and you will find that you may then have negative helm or perhaps some weather helm. Rounding up when a big gust comes through can be pretty handy. The 240 will be a similar mask rake degree to the 260. Hanging a pumb bob at the end of the main halyard with the plumb bob suspended at the same height as the rams horns should show a distance from the aft face of the mast to the plumb bob of about 4-5 inches. Look forward to you tinkering and coming back to us with the result.
Sail trim
Sorry, but I still don't buy mast rake as the primary cause of weather helm. The amount of change in forestay length available at the turnbuckle simply can't change the rake of the mast that that much. I learned this the hard way after trying unsuccessfully to get rid of excessive weather helm on my H23. I firmly believe that sail trim is the way to go before you try anything else...for two reasons. First, the sails are the largest surfaces on the boat and they exert the most force. Second, sail trim adjustments are the easiest and fastest you can make,a ndifthey don't work, theyare easy to reverse so you can try something else. By the way, adjusting heel and centerboard depth are other simple ways to adjust boat trim. Simply put, lee or weather helm are signs of imbalance, so start by balancing the sail plan. Sheeting the jib in too tight will add lee helm. Sheeting the mainsail in too tight or excessive boom vang tension will add weather helm. Sailing in light air with insufficient heel will cause lee helm. Sailing in heavy air with excessive heel will cause weather helm. All these conditions can be changed in seconds. It's easy to sheet in too much, because once the sail stops luffing you can't really see what's going on. Telltales are cheap, easy to install and help sail trim immensely. Try some woolies on the headsail and ribbons on the leech of the mainsail. If the telltales don't agree with the masthead wind indicator, ignore the wind indicator. Next time you have lee helm, try any of the following adjustments. Do whichever is most convenient first, and combine them as needed to correct the lee helm. a) sit on the leeward side of the cockpit b) ease the jib a bit c) trim the mainsail in a bit d) harden the boom vang e) lower the centerboard a bit more Sorry about the length of this post, but I think there are lots easy things to try before you start messing with the forestay. Good luck. Peter H23 "Raven"
Sorry, but I still don't buy mast rake as the primary cause of weather helm. The amount of change in forestay length available at the turnbuckle simply can't change the rake of the mast that that much. I learned this the hard way after trying unsuccessfully to get rid of excessive weather helm on my H23. I firmly believe that sail trim is the way to go before you try anything else...for two reasons. First, the sails are the largest surfaces on the boat and they exert the most force. Second, sail trim adjustments are the easiest and fastest you can make,a ndifthey don't work, theyare easy to reverse so you can try something else. By the way, adjusting heel and centerboard depth are other simple ways to adjust boat trim. Simply put, lee or weather helm are signs of imbalance, so start by balancing the sail plan. Sheeting the jib in too tight will add lee helm. Sheeting the mainsail in too tight or excessive boom vang tension will add weather helm. Sailing in light air with insufficient heel will cause lee helm. Sailing in heavy air with excessive heel will cause weather helm. All these conditions can be changed in seconds. It's easy to sheet in too much, because once the sail stops luffing you can't really see what's going on. Telltales are cheap, easy to install and help sail trim immensely. Try some woolies on the headsail and ribbons on the leech of the mainsail. If the telltales don't agree with the masthead wind indicator, ignore the wind indicator. Next time you have lee helm, try any of the following adjustments. Do whichever is most convenient first, and combine them as needed to correct the lee helm. a) sit on the leeward side of the cockpit b) ease the jib a bit c) trim the mainsail in a bit d) harden the boom vang e) lower the centerboard a bit more Sorry about the length of this post, but I think there are lots easy things to try before you start messing with the forestay. Good luck. Peter H23 "Raven"
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Michael C.
Excessive Rudder Rake
Try adjusting the rudder rake. If the rudder is positioned too far forward, this will happen. Check the link below for Hunter's discussion about it. It makes a big difference on my H26. Regards, Michael C.
Try adjusting the rudder rake. If the rudder is positioned too far forward, this will happen. Check the link below for Hunter's discussion about it. It makes a big difference on my H26. Regards, Michael C.
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Crazy Dave Condon
check the struts/Mark please respond to this
Mark's mast was out of whack and he sent me some photos. One suggestion was the mast strut which many folks do not consider. Ok Mark please take this from here as to what you found on your boat and what you are doing. Thanks
Mark's mast was out of whack and he sent me some photos. One suggestion was the mast strut which many folks do not consider. Ok Mark please take this from here as to what you found on your boat and what you are doing. Thanks
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John Frederick
Thanks
Thanks everybody for the inputs. I think the mast rake is fine, I set the rig up every year using the method outlined in the owner's manual. Mark, if you have some input on the struts I am interested. From the link provided by Michael I became aware of the rudder position. I know I put the thing all the way forward so I am going to definetley play with the rudder position and see if that makes it do what I am expecting. John H240 Karly Sue 2
Thanks everybody for the inputs. I think the mast rake is fine, I set the rig up every year using the method outlined in the owner's manual. Mark, if you have some input on the struts I am interested. From the link provided by Michael I became aware of the rudder position. I know I put the thing all the way forward so I am going to definetley play with the rudder position and see if that makes it do what I am expecting. John H240 Karly Sue 2
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