Westerly Fulmar - Weather Helm

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jonstannah

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Hi,
Really get excessive weather helm in anything above 13kn of breeze. Above 16kn its very strong - too much for autohelm. Have tried reefing main and this make a marginal improvement. Any other ideas? Particularly interested in other Fulmar owners experiences,
Thanks,
Jon.
 
Have you tried flattening the main first? Kicker, outhaul, cunningham, backstay all on tight?
Is your mast rake right?
Drop the main down the track a bit?
Is it time for a new mainsail??
 
Fulmars are very well balanced boats.So the problem must lie with your main or mast.As said above what is the rake like? If the sail is too baggy you'll get weather helm.Is the weather helm the same on both tacks?
My Fulmar remains balanced with full main and a jib.
 
If your rig has not been tweaked up for racing you are unlikely to have excessive rake( more than 3 degrees) so I suspect the answer lies with your main. How old is it ? Are all controls working outhaul in particular. In a Fulmar of age this may have got a bit gummed up inside the boom and if you have a rope foot with reefing pennants rigged through can be v. difficult to alter. Any help?
 
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Fulmars are very well balanced boats.

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I can confirm that, having done the R the Is several times. So something is definitely wrong.

I only hope it's not as serious as a friend's Elizabethan which showed similar symptoms and when lifted was found to have half the skeg broken off!
 
With our Fulmar we always reef the main well before touching the genoa. This applies especially if, like ours, you have a roller reefing genny which is smaller than the original hanked-on No.1. If you have had previous experience with a masthead rig you probably started to roll the genny first. If we want the quiet life we usually put a reef in the main if beating into a F4 - and with no loss of speed.

The Fulmar is quite responsive to the helm and we often find that the autohelm has a hard time, depending of course on the point of sail, in maintaining a course in stronger winds.

Our previous boat, a Hunter Delta, was also fractionally rigged with a r-r genny and again we had to reef the main in good time to maintain control. In that case we had an adjustable backstay and hardening that up well really helped.

If early reefing doesn't help much I would agree with BAtoo that you need to look at the shape of your main. Last year we bought a new main and that has made a noticeable difference.
 
I suffered horrid whelm on my moody last season... in stronger winds. I tried everything I could think of with regards to reefs and standing rigging tension. Main looked pretty good but the rig failed to deliver drive. I talked to a local sail maker (Steve Douthwaite) who had a look at the main. he immeadiatly identified the luff rope had shrunk allowing the sail to pant along the luff even when reefed/ cunningham applied. A little inexspensive surgery and he added 6" to the luff. Yesterday was my second stronger wind sail of the season (25+ knts) and it is like sailing a different boat, power to windward and a great sail set reefed or otherwise. I am very impressed how much difference it has made.
 
Thanks everybody some great ideas here. The main is definately a bit old and baggy so I expect it is something to do with that. Maybe time to change. Also outhaul has never been led to a winch so I'm not sure it is doing its job.
 
Yes, our outhaul is only led to a jamming cleat on the underside of the boom. I'm not totally happy with this arrangement but up until recently it has sufficed with a fairly hefty pull on the outhaul. However, just this season it has taken to slipping out of the cleat (maybe because the rope's sheath is wearing) especially in strong winds which is just when you need maximum tension so I am now looking for other ideas for securing it.
 
Q - Thanks everybody some great ideas here. The main is definately a bit old and baggy so I expect it is something to do with that. Maybe time to change. Also outhaul has never been led to a winch so I'm not sure it is doing its job.
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I think you're getting to the heart of it here. The Fulmar is an easily driven boat with fine entry. It's easy to carry too much main - in the sense of too much camber.

When I got my new main for the Fulmar, it was very apparent how much the old bag had been costing me in handleability.
Not the best of news but a worth while investment if your main is well used and over, say, 8 years old.

Autopilots seem to find the 30 ft boat a bit of a watershed. You don't say what myour setup is, but I found the regular Autohelm somewhat outclassed by rising weather, and had to take the gear for the next higher class of vessel - better.

All in all, we've probabaly just spent £2k of your money - sorry about that. But you'll enjoy the results and the dosh is only earning 1% in the bank after tax.....much better return proposed here!

PWG
 
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