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Mike G.
Hi all,I finally resurrected (dried out the carb, changed the oil, changed out fuel) my 2.5 horse kicker motor (after turtling my 170 back in October) and foamed out my mast this week-- and took the boat out for a nice lake sail on December 28. The wind was typical winter fare- steady and strong (15-20mph), so I ran with the mainsail only. During a couple 20mph wind peaks, I could hardly keep the tiller close to straight, the weather helm being so strong that the extension stick was almost yanked out of my hands-- the boat wanting to round up. This weather helm was stronger than ANY I've every felt in strong breezes WITH the jibsail flying as well. Any theory as to why this might be?-- I assume c.e. (center of effort) plays into this-- the power having been shifted aft. I assume other 170 sailors have experienced this phenomenon?For the info. of folks who read this forum, my mast foaming included drilling out the masthead rivets and removing it from the mast, sealing off the hole in the underside of the masthead (its underside below the two halyard blocks/pulleys is hallow) with duct tape and industrial adhesive, feeding 7/8" thickness(approx. 2' diameter) cylinder-shaped foam insulation normally used to jacket central air copper piping down into the mast, and sealing all rivets/cracks on the top 10 feet of the mast. The insulation stopped decending into the mast at about 13 feet (approx. the distance to the shroud tangs/rivets), so I assume it became blocked by rivets protruding into the hallow of the mast. Having only the top 13 feet of the mast foamed and holes sealed oughta buy me plenty of time, I figure, if capsized, to get to the centerboard and pull the boat back over -preventing a turtle. I'll do the actual 'capsize/foamed mast efficiency test' this May --right now the lake water's 60 degrees!!!- brrrrrrrrrr!Happy new year to all!Mike G.