Still banging on about weather helm

T

towlerg

.
Mar 27, 2001
121
Hi guys,

going back to a post of mine some time ago, to which several people
kindly responded. I'm still trying to track down the cause of my
excessive weather helm and mast rake is atleast something I can play
with.

How much (if any) mast rake do we have? And is that leaning forward
or back. For the record I have a roller reefed genoa and a standard
sized main (short battens, jiffy reefing).

Any
 
S

stevebirch2002

.
Nov 8, 2001
1,818
Hi George

The rake should be slightly aft, if at all. There was an article in the
VAGB NEwsletter which can be downlaoded from the website. Cant remember
which one. Try for about 4 to 6 inches rake aftwards at the top. Usually
excessive weather helm means too much sail.

Good to hear from you

Steve Birch
At 01:28 19/03/02 -0000, you wrote:
 
M

mocap1

.
Oct 31, 2019
96
It would appear from my experience that Steve is correct. I have no noticeable rake and the boat balances well. However, strong weather helm begins to develop in winds over about 15 knots. This is cured by reefing.

Mort
 
V

Vega1447

.
Oct 19, 2019
921
Albin Vega 27 Limerick
The primary dynamic of weather helm on a ballanced sailplan is the size of the leeward bow wave.
If the weather helm seems excessive at 15deg of heel,
and the mast is straigt up in the boat, then try the following:
Move weight aft
Depower or reduce headsail first.
Extending the headstay just a bit to add some aft rake would have only a little bit of effect since the keel's center of effort is very long but may be worth trying.
When I was sailing my Vega, I would often tie the helm off with a heavy bit of bungie cord and the boat would sail quite nicely. But no roller furler; hank on jibs & genoas. Roller furlers are nice, but the sail gets baggy as it gets rolled up which is less effective than changing to smaller & flatter sails.
There are some products that help the roller furler flatten the sail as it is rolled up that your sailmaker could help you with.
Good luck,
Pete Carrico
 
T

towlerg

.
Mar 27, 2001
121
Tks for the advice guys. A few things to try.

For the record, I'm a very inexperienced sailor and I suspect if
anything I tend to carry to little sail rather than to much - but in
the light of posts maybe not.

Thanks again

George Towler 1043 "Vista"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Top Bottom