Y25 weatherhelm

[dee.yeah]

It is more rigging/tuning issue.

The sails are ooooold, and the stays/shrouds are of some age but holding up well.

The genoa is 150% oversized. When I sail out alone, usually I just use the head sail, coz' it's handy with a furler.

Even with the head sail hoisted, there is already quite some weatherhelm under stronger wind. So I tried shorten the forestay by tightening the turn-buckle, and loosen the backstay in the same way. I also checked and re-adjusted the tensions of the shrouds accordingly.

The weatherhelm did improve a little bit (only!), but turned out that the upwind angle got worse. Anyway, I tried sail out again with both the genoa and main sail hoisted. The weatherhelm appears not much improvement.

Any idea on how to minimize the weatherhelm?

Thanks!

 

[Boffin]

I t seem you need to reduce the sail area of the headsail when the wind goes up. With the main you can greatly improve the upwind angle . The boat works fine in 8-12knots wind , beyond that I need to trim down both.

 

[jnovie]

It is more rigging/tuning issue.

The sails are ooooold, and the stays/shrouds are of some age but holding up well.

The genoa is 150% oversized. When I sail out alone, usually I just use the head sail, coz' it's handy with a furler.

Even with the head sail hoisted, there is already quite some weatherhelm under stronger wind. So I tried shorten the forestay by tightening the turn-buckle, and loosen the backstay in the same way. I also checked and re-adjusted the tensions of the shrouds accordingly.

The weatherhelm did improve a little bit (only!), but turned out that the upwind angle got worse. Anyway, I tried sail out again with both the genoa and main sail hoisted. The weatherhelm appears not much improvement.

Any idea on how to minimize the weatherhelm?

Thanks!

I suggest you consider having a sail maker go out for a sail with you to help analyze your problem. Your old headsail may be too full and perhaps a re-cut will help flatten it. Adjusting your rigging will only help up to a point. You may be beyond that point with your old sails. Try sailing with just a 100% jib or even a 70% jib (if you have one) and a full main. Generally a flatter jib will allow you to point higher with less weather helm in heavy air conditions.

 

[dee.yeah]

Thanks Boffin and jnovie. So I guess it's more on the aged sails with distorted shapes.

I agree that the headsail is large, I'll see when I can't stand it any longer to replace the sails, though there is no plan in the very near future yet.