B27
Well-known member
For brevity, I won't quote the post above.
Some good points.
But 'weather helm' is more complex.
Have a go in a Laser dinghy.
The rudder is terrible, mostly a brake.
Steer by hull form, sitting out and sheeting.
With a small yacht, a gust hits, it heels, how does that affect the steering.
A small factor of heeling causing the boat to luff and hence lose power may be beneficial, in the overall scheme,
Too much becomes 'rudder fights sails'.
With my boat, I'm learning that above x knots of true breeze, the right number of rolls in the jib gives a gust response of 'luff a bit and keep speed'. Get it wrong and we either luff a lot or lose speed due to needing a lot of rudder.
Some good points.
But 'weather helm' is more complex.
Have a go in a Laser dinghy.
The rudder is terrible, mostly a brake.
Steer by hull form, sitting out and sheeting.
With a small yacht, a gust hits, it heels, how does that affect the steering.
A small factor of heeling causing the boat to luff and hence lose power may be beneficial, in the overall scheme,
Too much becomes 'rudder fights sails'.
With my boat, I'm learning that above x knots of true breeze, the right number of rolls in the jib gives a gust response of 'luff a bit and keep speed'. Get it wrong and we either luff a lot or lose speed due to needing a lot of rudder.