I am having severe weatherhelm problems with my Catalina 27. Cracked my tiller in 3 places trying to correct for it last weekend. Should I rack the mast back? (have looked at a few other Catalinas in my marina, they all seem to be racked back more than mine). Any advice would be appreciated.
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Weather Helm
Weather helm is caused by the main sail trying to turn the boat into the wind, and the "tiller" is pulled "to the weather side" trying to keep the boat on course. Depower, or reef the main to reduce this. A smaller jib will only produce less "lee helm" giving the main more power. Reduce the main sail size first, then the jib.
Weather helm is caused by the main sail trying to turn the boat into the wind, and the "tiller" is pulled "to the weather side" trying to keep the boat on course. Depower, or reef the main to reduce this. A smaller jib will only produce less "lee helm" giving the main more power. Reduce the main sail size first, then the jib.
Rake vs Weather Helm
Increasing mast rake increases weather helm. Do reduce weather helm, reduce rake by moving the mast forward. Most Catalina's like near zero rake. Make sure the boat is floating on her lines then hang your tool box from the main halyard to make a great huge plumb bob. Rake is the distance aft of the mast the plumb bob hits the boom. For a C27 start with about 1". The tiler cracked because it is old, although weather helm helped it along.
Increasing mast rake increases weather helm. Do reduce weather helm, reduce rake by moving the mast forward. Most Catalina's like near zero rake. Make sure the boat is floating on her lines then hang your tool box from the main halyard to make a great huge plumb bob. Rake is the distance aft of the mast the plumb bob hits the boom. For a C27 start with about 1". The tiler cracked because it is old, although weather helm helped it along.
Sail trim
You can get rid of weather helm lots of ways. Flatten your sails. Drop the traveler down. Tighten the backstay. Flatten the boat. Even better, buy this book and study it: http://shop.catalinaowners.com/books/detail-books.htm?fno=20&cart=11484707262293546&sku=102.2&cat=1321
You can get rid of weather helm lots of ways. Flatten your sails. Drop the traveler down. Tighten the backstay. Flatten the boat. Even better, buy this book and study it: http://shop.catalinaowners.com/books/detail-books.htm?fno=20&cart=11484707262293546&sku=102.2&cat=1321
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