Weather or Lee Helm

[BlueSkyNick]

How much is good for you?

In the old days when I sailed small cruisers (Leisure 17, Prelude, Macwester Rowan) with my father, I learned that holding the tiller towards you is weather helm. ie assuming you are sitting to windward, on a beat. A little is a good thing and better than lee helm, IIRC. I actually prefer to sit to leeward, as long as I have a crew looking out to windward, but that's a different discussion.

So on a boat with a wheel, to have the same effect, weather helm means turning the wheel AWAY from the wind, eg clockwise on a port tack, anti-clock if on starboard.

Having just invested in new sails and slab reefing, I have spent some time tuning them to best effect. I can set the autohelm to a course or the wind, and point up quite high, with the wheel staying pretty much top dead centre, on a slight sea.

On the old sails, with behind the mast furling and vertical batterns, she didn't do too badly, but wouldn't point as high. On a recent channel crossing, Parahandy locked the wheel without the autohelm on and she steered a straight course for well over half an hour before I realised what he had done. He said " ...yer boot goos pretty well, despite ra feckin' manky auld mainsail..." or something like that!

So back to the point, is there any benefit to sailing with any weather or lee helm? I would have thought either way is reducing the efficiency of turning the energy from the wind into forward motion of the boat.

 

[Talbot]

eradicating weather and lee helm means that the autopilot has very litttle work to do, and thus uses almost zero power.

Slocum relied on this principle for his journeys, and would leave the boat for hours with just a turn of rope around the tiller.

 

[jimi]

As i understand it weather helm has two benefits:
1) Boat will come up into wind if control is lost rather that accidentally gybing
2) Weather helm will create lift on the aerofoil of the keel /rudder config thus increasing efficiency

 

[StugeronSteve]

I've always tried to trim the sails to provide a little weather helm for safety reasons, ie. to give her the tendency to round up in gusts. The boat always seems to go a bit quicker like this than it does with a neutral set up.

 

[Skyva_2]

As always there is a previous thread:


weather helm

When helming manually a small amount of weather helm helps to feel whats going on, but with autohelm it may not matter. Of course with my autohelm its always best to be prepared for it to fail, so a bit of weather helm is safer!

 

[bbg]

As said by others there is a VMG gain by sailing with a little weather helm.

Ships_Cat gave his explanation in a thread originally titled

"What makes a Yacht go faster?"

on the PBO forum. Thread was started 27/06/2005 and S_C's explanation was on 01/07/2005. I am sure someone else knows how to insert a link to that thread, but I don't.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Thanks to SKyva and bbg - I was on holiday when that thread was active, so I didn't recall it.

As with many of SHipsCats detailed explanations, they are highly informative - as long as you read them more than once! I can't be bothered to understand the scientific theory on a Friday - I will just go with the flow!

 

[Guest]

Old advise ....

A small amount of weather helm is preferred so that in event of mishap the boat will round up into wind on her own.... (luff-up)
If a boat carries small amount of lee-helm - this is generally considered undesirable as now boat has tendency to want to turn away from wind and increase potential for danger.

A neutral boat as you appear to have is nice to steer - light on the wheel / tiller ... but IMHO not desirable ... adjustment of mast / sails to give slight touch of weather-helm is IMHO better.

Weather helm can be usually referred as : Having to keep rudder slightly offset to turn away from wind as boat tries to turn into wind.
Lee-helm is opposite of course.

 

[Fergus]

Although this is for model yachts it applies just as well..
http://c_r_y_a.tripod.com/Sterne%20How%20to.htm#3%20Sail%20Trim

 

[TigaWave]

Having experienced two steering failures...one boat just rounded up and stopped (Sweden38) and the other started bearing away and jybing, doing two turns before we'd managed to drop the sails (Fast42) I prefer the rounding up option.

In one of the jybes in the Fast the main sheet took one of the steering wheels off and nearly the helm with it.

 

[Peppermint]

Re: I prefer a little weather helm.

I spent a good part of my early sailing years steering boats that a bunch of nutters, or trimmers as we called them, spent all day ensuring I couldn't feel a thing through the steering. So I don't like a neutral helm though I believe it's faster in the right hands. It's not faster for beginers cos they can't find a groove and thus steer to much.

Lee helm is dangerous.

 

[Sans Bateau]

Re: I prefer a little weather helm.

Trouble is with a larger wheel and sufficent gearing, weather helm 'feel' can be lost to the mechanics. This of course gives rise to the argument that one is better off with tiller steering.

We are lucky with our boat, as the wheel is smaller it looks less butch, but has much more feel.

 

[Lakesailor]

Re: I prefer a little weather helm.

I find that on my little boat (18ft, bilge keels) that in very light airs it has lee helm changing to neutral in F2-3 and weather helm above that until the rudder stalls and it rounds up, before I really wanted it to.
Could this be a bilge keel thing?

 

[Swagman]

Re: I prefer a little weather helm.

[ QUOTE ]
I find that on my little boat (18ft, bilge keels) that in very light airs it has lee helm changing to neutral in F2-3 and weather helm above that until the rudder stalls and it rounds up, before I really wanted it to.
Could this be a bilge keel thing?

[/ QUOTE ]

Could be a lot of things but if the only variables are as described most likely to be a differing cut to your sails (ie fuller / older headsail and flatter / newer main), or the way you are trimming them.
Cheers
JOHN

 

[Guest]

Bilge keeler ??

No its the fullness of the sails .... as the wind strength increases the shape of your sails is having greater influence on the boat characteristics .... light airs your genny is in command, as it increases genny / main balance out, then stronger the main takes command .... not unusual actually.

 

[Lakesailor]

Re: Bilge keeler ??

That makes sense as I still haven't replaced my headsail and it is pretty tired.
That's it then. New headsail.

 

[Sans Bateau]

Re: Bilge keeler ??

Who cares about the sail trim, look at the view!

 

[Evadne]

Re: I prefer a little weather helm.

Apart from the sails, the underwater profile has the greatest effect. As a boat heels, this will change (unless she is rather carefully designed) so the centre of resistance moves forward or aft and affects the lee/weather helm.

 

[Lakesailor]

Re: I prefer a little weather helm.

That's the thing I feel is the limiting factor. I can't move the keels!

(Behind Belle Isle approaching the Lillies of the Valley (two small islands) from the North. With windshifts and windshadow effects it can take a while to get a beat that gets you between them when it's blowing from the South.)

 

[Evadne]

Re: I prefer a little weather helm.

Perhaps you'd be more worried if the keels did move! But to echo a previous poster, with view like that you can't be in a hurry to go anywhere else, surely? Down here in the Solent I am frequently trying to make a tidal gate somewhere or other, so tacking against the tide is avoided at all costs and I know if I don't make it before closing time then there will be a problem.
On the original question, I think a little weather helm makes the boat point better; I've only noticed terminal weather helm at angles of heel in excess of 40 degrees and lee helm when I've had the main with 3 reefs and still held onto the working jib in a F6-7.