Weather Helm

[iainmillett]

My Victoria 26' - a double ender - is prone to weather helm.
I have a small working jib set aft only up to the mast. I rarely set the full genoa.

I tend to reef pretty early too.

Has anyone any other ideas to minimise weather helm??

 

[vyv_cox]

It's just a matter of balance. Sail carried aft of the pivot point (CLR) tends to push the bow upwind. Helm needs to be pulled to weather to counter this. Sail carried forward of CLR pushes the bow downwind, requiring helm to be pushed to leeward to correct. So in your case:
a. Main/jib balance is wrong. A larger jib could help, although most overlapping genoas extend further aft than CLR, and can induce weather helm even when the main is not hoisted.
b. You either don't have a mainsheet traveller, or don't use it. Try setting the main further to leeward, if you don't have a traveller put plenty of kicker on to keep the sail flat.
c. Maybe your sail plan is wrong, mast in wrong position, raked too far aft, non-standard mainsail?
d. Something unusual underwater, that is affecting position of CLR. Keel type, very small rudder, tangled weed or net?

 

[Guest]

had a similar problem on my Westerly 30, rigged as it was I had severe weather helm, some careful tweeking of forestay and backstay to angle mast more forward cured the problem to the extent that either under Genoa, No 1 or No2 jib the weather helm is minimal. Good Luck.

 

[Bergman]

Typically weather helm comes from two sources, centre of effort of the sails being too far aft and the underwater shape being assymetrical when heeled.

There is little to be done about the shape but it is worth having a go at the sail balance.

I would suggest that you measure the rake of the mast by hanging a weight on a masthead halliard and then reduce the rake in small increments to see if you can make a difference. I don't think you should go as far as forward rake, you could cause problems with the stability of the mast if you do.

If the mast has a fore and aft adjustment you could try this next, but it can be quite a big job - cranes and things - so you need to be fairly confident it will work.

If this does not do the job then you will have to follow Vyv's guidance on adjusting sail shape and trim to effect an improvement.

 

[iainmillett]

Very helpful thanks.

I have noticed that the yacht liies somewhat down by the stern. With me plus at least 1 other in the cockpit, the problem could be worse than I think.

Have thought about shifting more weight forward eg spare battery, even some ballast.

Would this assist?

Also being a double ender, this might make her heeled profile unhelpful.

 

[vyv_cox]

I suspect that this is having the opposite effect. Bows rising from the water and stern down will move the CLR aft, so the main will have reduced leverage and helm will tend to leeward. That's not to say that efforts to improve balance would not help overall, they would, but probably not in the weather helm problem.

If the boat is in its original condition so far as mast position, rudder size, etc is concerned, one assumes that the designer will have taken underwater profile into account. As a general principle start with the easy solutions first and if these don't help, go further. Try sheeting the main further out first, then rake the mast forward (but not further forward than upright). If these don't solve it, get a sailmaker or knowledgeable rig specialist to go sailing with you and get his advice.

 

[Guest]

Bias to the foresail by :

Raking or moving mast little forward.

Setting larger foresail

Reducing size of / easing sheets on the main

A lot of people raise the sails and then find the boat unbalanced, resulting in poor steerage, weather or worse lee helm.

Moving the centre of effort forward will in laymans terms, push the bow of the wind more ... reducing weather helm.

On my boat I actually moved the forestay bottom attachment forward about 5 cms at the stemhead fitting .... doesn't sound much, but made a hell of a difference.

 

[Guest]

Looks to me like you need to use that Genoa nm

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