OCEANBIRD

markpsymons

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I am having a lot of trouble eliminating aewther helm on my Oceanbird Mk2. Even under jib alone, she has some weather helm. In order to balance the tiller I have to sheet in as hard as possible on the jib. With the main up, there is no chance. The mast is pretty much upright. Really need advice from other Oceanbird owners, so if any one knows any, please give them a nudge to see if they can help. Thank you so much.

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snowleopard

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sounds an odd one but a few things to tri.

can't remember the exact configuration of the ocean bird but do you have a pivoting keel? if so, swinging it aft a little will move the CLR aft.

with a mono i would look at too much twist in the sails when heeled making the mast try to get ahead of the boat. even so you could experiment with jib sheet car position and kicker tension.

has this always been the case? in one boat the weather helm appeared after a new suit of sails was fitted, it was cured by adjusting the sail trim, particularly flattening the main & moving the mainsheet traveller to leeward.

my tri was pretty well balanced but could still go to windward with just a storm jib right up forward so it doesn't surprise me that you still get the problem under just jib.

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ex-Gladys

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With acres of experience on day multis the obvious things to check are all around hull alignment. On a cat the toe in/out of the hull needs to be precisely set, as does the "diagonal" measurements (port bow - stbd transom etc). If your outriggers don't align - and don't OB's have wire bracing to the floats which may have stretched?? - you can get all sorts of weird things. If both your outriggers have serious toe in then you'd get the symptoms you mention no matter where the CLR/CE stuff is....

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JOHNOO

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I bet you have a 3 bladed prop! Change it to a 2 bladed or a folding one and your weather helm will disapear.

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markpsymons

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Intriguing! I have a 3 bladed prop. I would never have imagined that could be the cause. Thanks for the advice.

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terryfb

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I have only just seen your topic. I have an Oceanbird! Is yours a mark 1, with pivotting centre plate AND rudder, or a mark 2 (with both fixed)? If a Mark 1, then answer is straightforward, wind the rudder adjustment to move rudder forward. Get it just right and you can eliminate ALL weather and Lee helm. If a Mark 2 then you must balance with the genoa and main. Iam not sure about the 3 bladed prop solution! Terry
 

skipper3x

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I have only just seen your topic. I have an Oceanbird! Is yours a mark 1, with pivotting centre plate AND rudder, or a mark 2 (with both fixed)? If a Mark 1, then answer is straightforward, wind the rudder adjustment to move rudder forward. Get it just right and you can eliminate ALL weather and Lee helm. If a Mark 2 then you must balance with the genoa and main. Iam not sure about the 3 bladed prop solution! Terry

My time to discover late this topic.
I have an OB mkI and even with rudder straight I still have a serious weather helm, no matter how I adjust my main sail. This was intriguing me for years. I am anxiously looking forward to try the prop solution asap.
 

terryfb

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Mark, With a pivotting rudder, you can totally remove weather helm, almost regardless of the set of the sails. The secret is that at least 15% of rudder area must by AHEAD of the rudder pivot line, not the lifting pivot, but the rudder Hanging trunion line. Your test with the rudder 'straight' would not bring the rudder far enough forward. Try putting it as far forward that it will go, to check that you have the range of movement necessary to get lee helm, then bring it back in stages. This is the method I used. My boat also had a 3 bladed prop on when I bought her, and now that I have a 2 blader (fitted to improve sailing speed) , I noticed no difference in the 'helm' characteristics. Let us know how you get on. I am based in E Anglia if I can be of more assistance.
 
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