problem close hauled on a port tack

[ralph champagne]

While on a port tack, close hauled, with boat heeledabout 40/45 degrees, with 20 kt winds; I had to cutthe wheel full to starboard to maintain forwardcontrol. Then apparently the rudder must have comeout of the water ! , because the boat just turnedup wind and I had no control with the steering ! Is this a common problem with the 331 ; Should I find a boat with a deep keel / rudder , instead ofa bulb keel and short rudder. Once the boat flattened out I had control again, butonly to find out the same problem again when pointing. I guess the boat can't take this type of sailing.

 

[Henry V]

work on sail trim

The 331 with shoal keel can easily handle 20 knots of wind. I have sailed in 30 + but you kneed to adjust your sails to suit conditions. The fact that the boat rounded up was good - it was telling you you were not trimming your sails to suit the conditions. While having the boat heeled over may make it feel like you are going fast you will actually get better peformance with less heel. At 20 knots you should have had sails partially reefed or furled to reduce area. Your sail trim also needs to be set for higher wind conditions - you were clearly overpowered.

 

[Mario]

Weather Helm

Ralph, make a search on the internet about "weather helm" and you will find information about what you described.