How light is your helm?

[2574]

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I'm new to sailing. Last year the helm normally felt heavy to the hand and constant pressure was needed (to leeward) to keep the boat from heading up. This year (I think what has happened) is that I've learned a bit more about sail trim. Generally I carry less sail, keep the boat more upright. The effect of this is that the helm has gone very light. Fingertip control, very little effort. When this first started happening I thought the steering was busted (!) and it worried me. Now experiencing this most days (and it has become the norm) it seems that its supposed to be light and finger tip control on the helm. Does that sound right?

rob
 

Sans Bateau

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Very much so. It sounds like all the attention you have been giving to sail trim is paying off!

Correctly trimmed sails mean, more upright, sail faster and more comfort.....enjoy!
 

flaming

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Yes, sounds ideal.
The perfect amount of weather helm when sailing upwind in an "average" boat is about 3-5 degrees. At this helm angle the drag of the rudder is only very marginally higher than a straight blade, the flow is going to be still attached and the rudder will be acting like a plane wind and lifting you slightly to windward. Or more acurately countering some of the leeway you are making.

With less rudder angle you loose this bit of lift, and if you really get it wrong and have lee helm you will of course be losing even more height.
With more rudder angle the rudder starts acting as a brake, slowing you down, and if the flow detatches from the blade will loose grip, resulting in a broach.
 

BrokerBen

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It also depends on your boat... If you have an old Van de Stadt like me you will have a balanced easily driven hull where you have a small wheel and it's always light while moving forwards...

If you look at these modern light yachts however they have monster wheel to make them manageable, sometimes twin rudders and all sorts. I still pass them on the wind heading up southampton water /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 

[2574]

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Love your sign off line (or whatever its called) - "no one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun!"
 

johnalison

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As Galadriel says, it sounds as if you're getting there. Helm feel is partly a matter of taste and experience, though a nearly neutral helm will give greater boat-speed. Just flattening the main a bit to reduce weather helm can add half a knot or more on a reach. The position of the genoa car and the amount of twist in the main seem to affect how responsive the boat feels.

On a slightly different tack, there is often confusion when talking about weather-helm, which should apply to the angle of the rudder when sailing rather than the weight on the helm, though many of us use the meanings interchangeably. My boat can for example, when properly set up, can be sailing fast on a reach with several degrees of weather-helm, but absolutely no weight on the tiller.
 

[2574]

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Interesting - your last sentence - how can that be? Logic tells me that an off centre rudder would by necessity have water pressure consequent of being out of line with the keel. Hmmmm............it's a black art!
 

ShipsWoofy

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[ QUOTE ]
and of course still retaining enough effect that should things go wrong the boat wants to round up rather than free off, hence much safer...

[/ QUOTE ]

It is said that it is the other way for cats, if she starts getting tippy you run away rather than turn into it.

Takes a bit of bottle as it often means accelerating out of trouble, instead of luffing up.
 

KREW2

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[ QUOTE ]
I'm new to sailing. Last year the helm normally felt heavy to the hand and constant pressure was needed (to leeward) to keep the boat from heading up

[/ QUOTE ]
I am missing something here, pushing the helm leeward to stop her rounding up?
 

jb2006

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Our's is very light - even with the toe rail in the water - plenty of feedback through the huge modern wheel tho'. If you really overpress her, she screams "ease the main sheet " for a bit before the rudder lets go and she rounds up. Almost perfect /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 

[2574]

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i fear you are far too clever for me - I meant turning my wheel to direct the boat to leeward. I suspect that is a quite different to what I said earlier.

rob
 

Fin

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Light is good, any more than about 5deg of weather helm and you'll be slowing the boat down. If you are beating you actually want some weather helm for two reasons; If you lose concentration the boat will luff into the wind and come upright, the second reason is that with a bit of weather helm the rudder will generate some lift to windward much like the keel will, making you point higher.

Fin
 
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If Tiller helm .. there should be a slight pressure against you ... the boat should want to round up into wind - that is the safe trim. Means that should anything happen ... tiller fall apart ... you get knocked etc. - the boat will safely round up and get into irons.
If the helm is that soft and finger-tip - I would not be so happy. But yes it means that you have balanced your sail trim well ... OR over reduced / trimmed sails !

If its a wheel helm - similar aplies - but then you don't get same feel as with a tiller ... but I would still be looking for a trim that requires my wheel / tiller to be a touch to windward holding the head OFF the wind - meaning a touch of weatherhelm is there.

IMHO - if you are at neutral - then it could possibly happen that with a bit of unlucky trim - you could produce LEE helm - a situation not safe and to be corrected asap.

Sorry to dampen your pride in being so good to trim out the helm !!
 

[2574]

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Thanks for that; helpful. I think I have the good situation which you describe. The phrase helm to leeward is confusing - the practical situation is that I am having to steer AWAY from the wind. If I was to let go of the wheel the boat would head up in to the wind.

rob
 
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